Oakland Raiders: Derek Carr on Gruden’s QB Camp
We unearth Jon Gruden’s QB camp with Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr
With the help of ESPN we have a portion of Jon Gruden’s QB Camp with then Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr leading up to the 2014 NFL Draft. With Gruden expected to return to Oakland nearly two decades after being traded to Tampa Bay, his sit down with Carr is haunting.
Only a couple minutes of Gruden working with Carr is available on Youtube, but you can tell Gruden liked Carr coming out of Fresno State. At times it seems like there isn’t a player Gruden doesn’t like, but you could tell there was a special connection with him and Carr.
Perhaps the most haunting phrase came midway through the video after Gruden talked about Derek’s brother David, who went number one overall to Houston in 2002.
"Gruden: Between you and your brother “I want you. What do you say about that?”Carr: “I appreciate that, let’s go win some championships now”"
Incredible. It’s amazing how life works where these two men are sitting across the table from one another not knowing they’d be working together four years later. Carr’s $125 million contract is the second-largest in NFL history, and it’s likely Gruden’s deal blows out previous head coaches.
Oakland has many of the pieces needed to win a championship in the near future. They have the quarterback, weapons on offense, pieces on the offensive line, a dangerous pass rusher, and young talent in the secondary. It’s now up to Gruden to move the franchise forward and finish what he started.