Derek Carr explains the part of Tom Brady's game that he tries to emulate
Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders were absolutely rolling for just about the entire season, and then Christmas Eve hit. Carr suffered a broken leg in that Week 16 game, ending his season, but also sealing the fate of the Raiders as a mediocre team without him.
That was evident in the season finale as well as the first playoff game where they were beat by the Texans. It’s impossible not to think about “what if” when it comes to Carr’s unfortunate injury with the very real possibility that they could have gone all the way and upset the Patriots. He discussed the injury with Colin Cowherd on FS1’s “The Herd” Thursday.
“It was very hard on me. ... So when I had to sit there on my couch – the other part was not being able to go to the games, that was awful. Because I was still thinking ‘maybe if we go to the Super Bowl, I’ll be able to hobble on it out there,’ and I wasn’t able to go on these trips because of the swelling.
“… The hardest thing for me was not celebrating with them, not being able to have their back (when they had a bad play). I would sit there and see these guys getting frustrated and see them walk off, but the hardest part was not being able to be there and make sure they were OK for the next play.”
Carr had to sit back and watch Matt McGloin and Connor Cook attempt to fill his shoes, which they obviously weren’t able to do. He had to watch Tom Brady advance to the Super Bowl without much of a challenge from the AFC’s other teams.
And when it comes to Brady, he’s a guy Carr tried to emulate in college and as a younger quarterback. Brady wasn’t the only guy Carr modeled his game after, but there was one particular aspect that he idolized.
“With Tom, it was his competitive drive – the fire in it. It was OK for a quarterback to yell and get excited, head-butt his teammates and things like that. … To me, I think Tom’s competitiveness and that fire, that drive shows his teammates that he’s one of them. I see him trying to cut-block people at 38, 39 years old. I remember in college I saw him trying to block people and I tried to go and take out a defensive end for my teammates.”
