Derek Carr on ending Raiders career on bench: ‘I was very upset’
After their playoff chances were all but over, quarterback Derek Carr sat on the bench for his final two games with the Las Vegas Raiders. Carr, who is now in New Orleans, has become upset and even mad with his old team over their ending.
“I was, for lack of a better term, I was very upset; I was mad,” Carr told the Fresno Bee’s Anthony Galaviz on Saturday. “You spend nine years in a place, you have all the records and you can play at a high level and for something to get in the way, whether it was whatever reason, money related or whatever, injury related, I would have said I don’t even want the money, just to play two more times in front of our fans. I didn’t get that opportunity. So, it definitely lit a fire inside me to keep going.”
Carr would later be released, ending his time as a Las Vegas Raider, and then signed by the New Orleans Saints in a blockbuster move.
“If you win more games, and you keep being productive, you stay there forever,” Carr said. “But we didn’t win enough games and that’s the kind of stuff that happens with all the turnover of coaches; with all the different things. Eventually, the last guy in the room is usually going to be out at some point. And that’s really what happened.
“I’ve survived about 20 coaches and that’s how it goes, and it is what it is.”
Carr became a staple in the Raiders franchise. Oakland drafted Carr with the 36th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft. After nine seasons with the silver and black, Carr mounted all records for a quarterbacks in Raiders history, leading them in completions, passing yards, touchdowns and more.
“Once they made my wife cry, that was pretty much over,” Carr said. “Once they made her cry, that was out. But the love for my teammates is what probably would have made me do it. The way it worked out and the timing of things, I was just … it was time for me to move on. But who knows? You never know what will happen.”
“I have so many friends over there, I want them to succeed, I want Jimmy to be healthy. I want him to play great, because that helps Davante (Adams). It helps Maxx (Crosby), Josh Jacobs. It helps all my friends, Kolton (Miller), Andre (James). I’m going to stop naming names because someone will get upset, but all my friends over there, I just want them to have success. That’s all I was ever trying to do is give my best so they could win.“
Even with a foul taste in his mouth, Carr is still rooting for the black and silver to do well, but not as well as the Saints.
“The thing that matters to me the most is the Saints win. I want my friends to have success and I don’t want them to have hard times, but I still want the Saints to win a little more.”
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