Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr had a chance to travel to Mobile, Ala., when he was in elementary school.
Amazingly, he decided against it.
But a lot of time has passed for the younger brother of former No 1 overall pick David Carr, who is working with the South team at this week’s Senior Bowl.
“My parents actually came here,” Carr said of his brother’s trip, via Mark Inabinett of al.com. “I had to choose to go to the draft or go to Mobile. I think I had a cool trip my school was going on during that time, so I think went to that. But I do remember my parents would call me every night and tell me, ‘We saw Jerry Jones today.’ And as a kid I was like, ‘What?’ I didn’t know those guys existed. I remember those phone calls, I remember my brother calling me, and I remember watching the game. Just what an experience. Experiencing that at 10, 11 years old was crazy. ...”
“I don’t know how many brothers have gotten to play in the Senior Bowl, but what an opportunity. Just everything he’s told me about how great everybody was to him and how classy it was, I wanted to strive to get here. It didn’t matter if they told me, ‘You’re a lock to be No. 1,’ I wanted to be here because they treated my brother so well. Family is so important to me, and the way they treated him and the great things he had to say about the Senior Bowl and Mobile, there was no doubt I wanted to be here.”
Twelve years later, the notion that the top pick in the draft wanted to compete at the Senior Bowl seems so quaint now, considering players such as Alabama’s A.J. McCarron find it beneath them.
But the elder Carr also crafted a long NFL career long after his status as the No. 1 overall choice in the NFL Draft faded, something his little brother is now trying to replicate.