Former Fresno State QB Derek Carr Announces Retirement

On Saturday morning, sad news was released in football.

New Orleans Saints quarterback and Fresno State legend Derek Carr officially announced his retirement from football after a strong 11-year professional career.

In high school, Carr attended Clements High School before transferring to Bakersfield Christian for his senior season. As a senior, Carr threw for 4067 yards and 46 touchdowns, and led the Eagles to a 12-1 season.

After high school, Carr had offers from Fresno State, SMU, and Utah, but elected to stay in the Central Valley, and singed with Fresno State in the class of 2009. Although he did not see the field much as a freshman, Carr had a great final three years in Freso, where he had 12,843 yards and 113 touchdowns over the three seasons. The Bulldogs won the Mountain West in his sophomore year, cementing his legacy as a Bulldog early. As a senior, the Bulldogs went 9-4 but fell in the Hawaii Bowl to SMU. Most notably in college, Carr linked up with Davante Adams, a California native as well. The iconic duo both went on to have successful careers in the NFL.

Carr was drafted by the Raiders, and played almost his entire career in Oakland and Las Vegas. Carr was great as a rookie, and continued to improve every season. In his third season, Carr had 28 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions, a career best, leading the Raiders to their first playoff berth since 2002. However, a fractured fibula kept Carr out of the playoff game, which Oakland lost.

After attendance and ownership problems in Oakland, the Raiders moved to Las Vegas in 2020, where Carr continued to shine, despite overall team struggles. They did return to the playoffs at the end of the 2021 season, though the Raiders lost to the Bengals in a 26-19 Wild Card game.

After nine years as part of the Raiders organization, Carr signed a four-year deal with the New Orleans Saints, hoping to have a late surge in his career, where he could continue to start. In his first season, he threw 25 touchdowns with eight interceptions. However, he couldn’t reach the 4,000 yard threshold that he did for the Raiders in four consecutive seasons. Finally in 2024, he lost the starting spot, splitting reps with Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener, another former Fresno State bulldog.

Due to a shoulder injury, Derek Carr announced his retirement from football on Saturday. Carr never saw postseason success, but was undoubtedly a great quarterback. Carr’s final NFL stats were 41,245 yards, 257 touchdowns, and 112 interceptions. Carr finished 22nd on the NFL's all-time passing yards list, and overall will be remembered extremely fondly by the Raiders organization.

It will be a bit odd watching the NFL without Carr, but no one will ever forget the impact that he made on the football field in the Central Valley and beyond.

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