David Carr – Sour Grapes and Happy Feet
By John White
I gotta tell ya, I’ve been cruising the web faithfully over the last 6 weeks since this gig began and I’ve read an awful lot of stupid things. There are stories that sound made up, corny and just plain pointless. Then there are stories like the one that appeared on ESPN’s wonderful, nearly-not-for-free little website.
Let’s set the scene – a quaterback is taken number one overall in the 2002 NFL Draft, he quickly looks like he’s getting no protection from his offensive line, this lasts for five seasons. He takes a trip to Carolina where he starts on the bench behind a previously undrafted player who had once languished in NFL Europe once upon a time. The starter goes down. In comes the previous first overall draft pick.
He still gets beat up – except there in the city of Charlotte his secret is out – the starter wasn’t exactly getting beaten up before going out. Their offensive line isn’t that pourous. Maybe it’s the quarterback.
See, it’s simple really, David Carr seems to think that he can stand in the pocket holding the ball long enough that a Democrat can get into the White House. The man seems to be married to the football and just doesn’t want to give it up. He’s happiest holding onto it like he’s making love to it while he tap dances.
David, if you love something, set it free. If it returns to you, it is yours. If it doesn’t return to you, it was never yours.
David Carr got unceremoniously bounced from Charlotte for a reason. He’s not a starting NFL quarterback. Fact is, he’s not a backup NFL quarterback.
Well, he was signed in New York where they apparently have very low expectations of their backup. That was Wednesday. On Thursday he opened his mouth.
"“I have a lot of calluses,” Carr said, according to The Associated Press. “I’m like an old carpenter I’ve been through it. If you let that stuff affect you, you’re not going to be able to do your job. One of the reasons I’m excited about coming here is they protect the quarterback well and they have playmakers on the outside.”"
David, better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt, don’t ya’ think?
Let’s face it, David Carr has a career 74.4 passer rating for a reason. He has 8 more interceptions than touchdowns in his career (70 to 62) for a reason. He has been sacked like a million times in his career for a reason. He holds onto the ball too long. We saw it last season in Charlotte up close and personal.
There is also a reason that David Carr was benched in favor of Vinny Testaverde, a guy about six months from becoming a member of AARP. David, that reason is that you just aren’t that good. And you wouldn’t be successful if you had five Sherman tanks protecting you.
I had promised myself before taking this gig that I wouldn’t be this critical of players and the team. It’s usually simply uncalled for. In this case, I can make an exception.
David Carr wound up in New York because Chris Palmer, the Giants’ assistant coach is there and they worked together in Houston. That was a disaster. If anything happens to Eli Manning, Giants fans will get the opportunity to see the trainwreck that is David Carr up close and personal.
And the playmakers the Giants have on the outside? They will rarely see the ball with Carr at quarterback. The ball will instead be tight in his grasp as he stands in the pocket ’til the count of 12 as he’s waiting to get plundered by a linebacker. Carr won’t take 75 sacks in three games because of a bad offensive line. That will be because he doesn’t know that he has to actually get rid of the ball once in a while.
For David Carr to intimate that he got no protection or little protection in either Houston or Carolina is absurd. Other quarterbacks have played admirably behind the same offensive lines that Carr played with.
One final message for you before I go, David: Those calluses you have? Yeah! Those are from holding the ball too long and not from playing with bad offensive lines. You’re the problem, David, not them.