30 Unbelievable Facts Every Fan Should Know About Derek Carr

28 January 2019, 2:37 pm EST By Ruby Karnick

Derek Carr, currently the quarterback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), is the first Raiders quarterback to start all 16 games since Rich Gannon in 2002. Here are some very interesting facts about the American football quarterback:

Derek Carr is one of the highest paid quarterback who plays for ‘Oakland Raiders’ in the National Football League.
He was born Derek Dallas Carr on March 28, 1991, in Bakersfield, California. He is the youngest of three children to Sheryl and Rodger Carr.
Apart from his uncle Lon Boyett, his oldest brother David Carr, is also an football quarterback and was the Houston Texans first overall pick in 2002 NFL Draft.
Carr initially attended Clements High School, Sugar Land, Texas, before shifting to Bakersfield Christian High School, California. After playing on the freshman team, he was the backup quarterback in his sophomore year and recorded 1,246 yards with 12 touchdowns.
As a junior, Carr led his school to a 13-0 in the season, before losing in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Class 5A Division 2 State playoff in Region 3. He recorded 1,622 yards with 16 touchdowns.
Carr represented Bakersfield Christian High School, in his senior year and led his team to ‘California Interscholastic Federation Central Section Division V’ championship. He set a Central Section record of throwing 544 yards on the way to being named ‘2008 All-Area Football Player of the Year.’
At the end of his high school career, he threw for 4,067 yards with 46 touchdowns, the second best in section history. He was named ‘National Player of the Year,’ by the National Private School Athletic Association.
He earned a scholarship to California State University, Fresno and in his three years, he threw for 12,843 yards with 113 touchdowns against 24 interceptions. He was awarded the ‘Sammy Baugh Trophy,’ as a nation’s top collegiate passer.
In the 2012 season, he was the leader in numerous category in ‘Mountain Western Conference,’ with 4,104 passing yards, with 67.3 percentage pass completion and with 37 touchdowns. He was awarded the ‘MWC Offensive Player of the Year’ and received ‘2013 College Football Performance Award Elite Quarterback.’
In May 2014, he was drafted 36th overall pick in the second round of 2014 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders.

His four-year contract worth $ 5.37 million with $ 2.2 million as signing bonus, started on an impressive note with 11 of 13 for 143 yards and 3 touchdowns in the final pre-season game against Seattle Seahawks.
On September 07, 2014, he became the first rookie starting quarterback in Oakland Raiders history, when he made his professional debut against New York Jets in the season opener. He was the only rookie of 2014 draft class to start in week one.
On September 28, 2014, in a game against Miami Dolphins, midway through the team’s 38-14 loss, Carr went down awkwardly and suffered high ankle sprain and sprained MCL in his knee.
Carr recorded the most passing touchdown by a rookie in a single regular season game on October 12, 2014. In the game against San Diego Chargers, he had to his name 18-34 for 282 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception.
Though Oakland Raiders had a miserable season with 3-13 record, Carr ended the season with 3,270 passing yards with 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He became the first Raiders quarterback since 2002, to start all 16 game of the season.
In the game two of the 2015 season against Baltimore Ravens, Carr threw the game winning touchdown to wide receiver Seth Roberts with just 26 seconds remaining. He recorded career high of 350 passing yards in 37-33 win for Raiders.
When he replaced Aaron Rodgers, for the 2016 Pro-Bowl, he became the first Raiders quarterback to be named to the Pro-Bowl since Rich Gannon in 2002.
After first two seasons, his 53 career touchdowns passes was the second most by a quarterback, behind Dan Marino’s 68. He was ranked 100th by his fellow players on the ‘NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.’
Carr earned his first ‘AFC Offensive Player of the Week’ honor on October 30, for a winning cause against Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the game he recorded a franchise record with 513 passing yards and 4 touchdowns to register 30-24 win in overtime.
On December 18, he led Raiders to their first play-off berth since 2002, with 19-16 win over San Diego Chargers. He was also named to his second consecutive Pro-Bowl.

On December 24, 2016, Carr threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter before being helped off the field with a broken fibula in his right leg. He was sacked by linebacker Trent Cole.
Despite the premature end to the season, he recorded 3,937 passing yards with 28 touchdowns and was ranked 11th by his fellow players on the ‘NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.’
On June 22, 2017, he signed a five-year contract extension with Raiders worth $ 125 million which includes $ 40 million fully guaranteed and a $ 12.5 million signing bonus. He was then the highest paid player in NFL history, before being surpassed in August by Matthew Stafford.
Carr recorded a career high 87 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Amari Cooper, in the season finale against Chargers. He ended the season with 3,496 passing yards with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
He went ten games with 301 passes starting from mid October to set a franchise record for most passes without an interception.
Though Raiders had disappointing 2018 season with 4-12 record, Carr ended the season on a career high 4,049 passing yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Carr was angry and challenged the ESPN’s ‘First Take’ host Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman to UFC fight after they had suggested that Raiders trade Carr for Kyler Murray. He has been one of the easy targets after Raiders dismal 2018 season and also seemed to question his character.
On June 29, 2012, he married Heather Neel and they have two sons named Dallas and Deker Luke. His son Dallas was born with medical complication and underwent three surgeries.
He is a staunch believer in Christianity. He has tattoos on his left wrists, citing a verse from Biblical Book of Jeremiah and the right depicting a Chi Rho.
He is one among 19 quarterbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) history to throw over 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns. His touchdown to interception ratio of 113 to 24 is second best in the FBS history.