What drives Raiders star Derek Carr? The question seems especially relevant before sunrise on a chilly morning as he drives to work in a pick-up truck with two child seats in the back.
The MMQB’s Peter King joined Carr on his 40-minute commute to the team’s practice facility for an in-depth feature that will air Thursday on Football Night in Kansas City (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC) prior to Oakland’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. King learned that Carr burns to be great, both on the field and off. He’s not just the quarterback of arguably the most exciting offense in football, and a key leader of the Raiders’ resurgence, he’s a devoted family man who takes pride in setting a strong example for those around him.
Read more: Peter King’s Ride Along with Derek Carr
“This is every day,” Carr said of his early commute. He added, “My character will rub off on my work ethic and the weight room and the film study and all those things, but when it comes down to excellence, I think about it off the field. I want people to think of my life, I want people to watch this and see me and know that that’s who I am.”
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King and Carr went in depth about Carr’s budding stardom, the pressure that comes with winning and the struggles of Carr’s brother, David, who entered the league as the Houston Texans’ first-overall pick in 2002. Derek Carr waited until the second round to be drafted but says he doesn’t think his brother’s star-crossed career affected his own draft position. In fact, he says it made him more attractive to the Raiders.
“We’re two completely different people, two completely different situations,” Carr told King. “I know that [GM] Reggie McKenzie didn’t feel that way and I think that is what fired me up the most is when they would talk about that situation they thought it was the biggest positive ever. Because they’re like, ‘You’ve already been in the NFL for 12 years, you’ve already seen it, you’ve already experienced the highs the lows, all the experience that you’ve gained is nothing but good. And when they said that, I was like, I want to go here so bad.”
For King, if a short drive to work was any indication, Carr has already arrived.
