The Raiders Should Give Derek Carr His Proper Sendoff
The Las Vegas Raiders have underwent some reunions. Geno Smith and Jamaal Adams get to reunite under head coach Pete Carroll. Amari Cooper, originally drafted by the Raiders, signed a one year contract to join the club. Reunions are in the air baby and the fans are going to rejoice. It got me thinking and this is going to be controversial. The Raiders should give Derek Carr the send off he didn’t get.
Raiders Should Give Carr His Send Off
The name Derek Carr sparks a conversation amongst Raiders fans. Talk about fan base divided just because of the guy who was under center. Carr was either beloved by the fans or ultimately hated. There was no in between. Sure, the writing was on the wall that it was time to take that next step. However, that next step wasn’t taken. But at the end of the day, Carr was one of the best quarterbacks to represent the Silver and Black.
There will always be that knock against Carr. He didn’t do enough to take the organization to the next level. You can also make a case that the organization didn’t set him up for success. He never had a top tier defense and being asked to play near flawless football isn’t sustainable. Towards the end of his tenure, he became a check down king and struggled in the red zone. But man, he could sling that football and brought excitement to the franchise. He deserves his send off.
Carr Brought Excitement to the Club
The Raiders were stuck in mediocre purgatory for a very long time. Then they drafted Carr and it finally gave the Raiders stability under center. At minimum, he had 3,000 yards in every season with the Raiders and even was putting together an MVP type season in 2016. Oh, the “what if” year. But he had sensational connection with Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree and he even established himself as a clutch player for the Raiders. The origination didn’t have much success, just two playoff appearances in his tenure, but his name is etched in the history books forever.
Carr is the only Raiders quarterback ever to have 3,900 yards or more (2018-2022) leads in career passing yards with 35,222. Also, here are other categories he leads the club in.
- Career Touchdown Passes: 217
- Career Completions: 3,201
- Career Pass Attempts: 4,958
- Game-Winning Drives: 33
It was fun to watch. It felt good to have someone reliable under center and after years of having mediocrity and instability. Oh the days of Kerry Collins, Carson Palmer, Jamarcus Russell, and many others are distant memories. The Raiders ironically haven’t had stability at the position since letting Carr go. Now they do.
Carr was benched the final two games of the season and never got to say goodbye in person. He never got the farewell and ovation. An ovation that he deserves. Josh McDaniels robbed him of that. It was a down year in 2022 with Carr, but he still deserved to say goodbye for all he did do and try to do for the organization.
Keep the reunion thing going and let him say a proper official goodbye.