THOU SHALT PLAY FOOTBALL

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr reveals for the first time how close he was to quitting his NFL career before it even began and beginning a career in ministry

BY JERRY MCDONALD

SAN RAMON — Something was nagging at Derek Carr, and it wasn’t as simple as trying to learn the nuances of an NFL offense for the first time.

Having just arrived at training camp in 2014, the second-round pick out of Fresno State was realizing a vision he’d been chasing since he’d tagged along with his older brother David, the former No. 1 overall pick of the Houston Texans, 12 years earlier.

Being an NFL quarterback is all Derek Carr ever dreamed about. He was a prodigy who was watching game film, and comprehending it, by age 10. Although

Derek Carr’s faith almost led him away from the football field before he even put on the pads in his rookie year for the Raiders.

ARIC CRABB/STAFF

he didn’t know it yet, the second-round pick was about to be anointed a rookie NFL starter because of that readiness that was all too apparent.

And just as suddenly as that dream was about to begin, the pang in Carr’s gut was growing more undeniable. As he lifted weights in the makeshift field house behind the Napa Valley Marriott, nothing could soothe his soul. A guy about to be handed the keys to an NFL offense as a rookie was looking for something more that he didn’t completely understand.

And how could he?