David Carr Blames Others for His Quarterback Failings, Claims He Is Like a Carpenter. Huh?

The Giants made a nice move by signing David Carr for a reported 1 year, $1 million dollar deal. Not much risk for a guy happy to be a backup, is a good practice player and a nice guy. He is a known quantity to Chris Palmer, the quarterbacks coach for the Giants who used to be the offensive coordinator for the Houston Texans. That being said, Giant fans should commence praying for Eli Manning's continued health.

Upon his signing with the Giants, Carr promptly blamed others for his failings because I guess that is what helps him sleep better at night after cashing his former teams' checks:

"I have a lot of calluses. 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."

Old carpenter? Wha? How can he have calluses? He wears Mickey Mouse gloves on both hands.

Okay, I guess the implication of his statement is that he sucked so bad over his career because both the Panthers and the Texans sucked. I got nothing on that carpenter thing.

Perhaps instead the answer is that Carr is the perfect illustration off how a quarterback who can't read defenses, has terrible pocket presence, holds onto the ball too long and has a wonky throwing delivery will make offensive lines look much worse than they are.

The year 2007 demonstrates why David Carr is not a very good quarterback. When he moved to the Panthers, Carr gushed about how much talent was on that team compared to his old team, and how much better the line was for the Panthers. Sound familiar?

Over the course of that season with the Panthers, Carr ended up getting some starts after Jake Delhomme went down to injury. His stat line? He managed 3 touchdown passes, 5 interceptions, 13 sacks and a passer rating of 58.3 in 6 games. He was benched in favor of an ancient Vinny Testaverde who played better than Carr, despite not having camp with the team, coming out of semi-retirement, and not even knowing the names of the players on the team. Even little known backup Matt Moore got on the field over Carr. Panther fans rejoiced when Carr was cut.

The Texans in 2007 were liberated once the reign of Carr ended. In one of those little known facts, the Carr-less Houston Texans last year only allowed 22 sacks. (27th in the league). With basically the same line and personnel, the Texans were actually able to throw the ball down the field too. Highest passing totals matched with lowest sacks in their history.

So in other words, most sensible Giant fans know that if Manning gets hurt, you are going to be hating life anyway. But if someone tries to sell you that Carr will look better once he is finally on a better team, well, that is a freaking joke and is evidence of someone who hasn't seen much of Carr's play.

Though Carr has some obvious mechanical issues, the biggest problem he has is that he isn't very football smart. Well, and a NFL quarterback wearing gloves on both hands in warm weather is evidence of some really odd stuff noodling around in his head. I bet he doesn't keep them with Palmer as his coach.

Texans fans warned Panther fans who are now warning Giant fans. Do not even attempt to debate me on this issue, and if you think about it at all I cordially ask you to look at the links below first.

Previously at FanHouse:
And That Will Be All For David Carr, (Hallelujah!)
Houston Texans Prove That Sensible Quarterback Play Helps Reduce Sacks. Who Knew?
David Carr: They Are Not Saying "Boo," They're Saying "Boo-urns."
Jake Delhomme Still Leads the Team in TD Passes This Season
David Carr Has a Concussion! We're Saved! (discusses the Carr-effect on Steve Smith's numbers)
What's the Deal With David Carr's Gloves
Andre Johnson Does Not Want to Dump David Carr in the Grease, Does Anyway (on Carr's inability to read defenses)
Everthing FanHouse about Zoolander, Mister Mittens, David Carr

(HT: an irate Chris from HoustonDiehards)
Sorry, No Photos

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

3-13-2008 @ 1:52AM

dougftw said...

TC is dropping knowledge like Galileo over here. Carr just has no accountability and no respect for his craft and the others that ply theirs. hes already thrown 6% of the NFL Offensive Line's under the bus, why not go for nearly 10%...who knows maybe he can play for the Patriots next year and so on and so on. One thing is for sure, that Carr to Cowboys stuff cleared up real freaking quick. Even they aren't so naive....obviously NY is. Maybe it just shows how much NY fan knows about anything that happens outside of their little bubble in the Northeast.

3-13-2008 @ 2:27AM

DiehardChris said...

It's mind-boggling. I do not understand why anyone, anywhere would bring him in to do anything but be the team Chaplain.

3-13-2008 @ 9:12AM

KingGreat said...

Carr feels like a carpenter. Jesus was a carpenter. I see where he's going with this.

Chris F. said...

David Carr need to retire. He is mentally and physically better off being a beach bum, not a quarterback in the NFL.

Justin said...

I was so wrong about this guy.

Giants fans, pray that Eli doesn't go down with an injury.

3-13-2008 @ 9:13AM

Dan said...

He was a bad, immobile QB who caused many of his own sacks. But the statement "I've been through it. If you let that stuff affect you, you're not going to be able to do your job" refers not to his fellow teammates but to the media coverage of his career, which he feels has been sort of negative. (Ya think, David?) Not saying that the rest of his statements aren't meant to throw ex-teammates under the bus, just that this one probably is not.

In other words, I think he's just saying, "It's tough to be any good when you have to deal with all the negative attention all the time - you can't help but let it affect your play."

Which is true to a limited extent, but it's more true that he was just awful.

tobrien28 said...

Manning is pretty durable. He has a 50+ consecutive game streak. Having said that they needed some kind of backup and Carr is a slight improvement on Anthony Wright and Lorenzen.

3-13-2008 @ 9:30AM

funny said...

let me ask you this...who exactly was he supposed to get the ball to? a quintuple covered andre johnson?

and that VAUNTED texans running game sure took a lot of pressure off.

owen daniels and andre davis' miraculous emergence was what helped the team, not the lack of carr. and the panthers are/were a crap team regardless of who was in there. again, quintuple cover steve smith and there you go, who was he going to throw to? dwayne jarrett? drew carter? does carolina even have a TE?

3-13-2008 @ 9:46AM

Stephanie Stradley said...

Interesting comments all.

@3 KingGreat - I think if Jesus were an NFL quarterback, he would never fumble the snap. I also don't think he would go with the neg burns.

@6 Dan - He is saying the same things he said last year. That he is happy being a backup for a team that has great protection and great offensive weapons.

Part of the implication is that his past failures were because he wasn't protected. He was more explicit in saying that last year.

And the truth is that he just isn't that good. That a great deal of the failure of protection he experienced with the Texans and Panthers is that he is a poor quarterback. No line can block for a QB who doesn't know the right place to throw the ball, holds onto it too long and has a poor sense of where the pass rush is coming from.

He has never acknowledged his own problems and has repeatedly blamed everybody but himself.

@8-funny

You must be a Giants fan who has never seen Carr play. "Miraculous Emergence" of Owen Daniels and Andre Johnson???? Andre Johnson is a great player who didn't play a large portion of 2007 due to injury. Owen Daniels arguably had a better season personally in 2006 because he didn't fumble so much.

Despite that, and despite still not having a running game, the Texans were able to sling it down the field in 2007, and get nearly half the number of sacks as they did with David Carr. It was like watching a whole different team with the biggest difference having a quarterback who didn't act like a chicken with his head cut off in the backfield.

Carr was so bad in 2006 that they basically had to shut down the passing game in December of that year because he was so awful against the Raiders.

Did you check on the link that showed the desparity of Steve Smith's numbers when Carr was QB and when anyone else was quarterback?

Vinny Freaking Testaverde looked better than Carr running the same Panther offense.

If you believe that Carr is a great quarterback in search of the right line and the right tools around him, well then you are delusional and haven't seen him play much. If you think that he is a good cheap backup that you never want to see play other than in the preseason, well then that is something different altogether.

Thanks all for reading and commenting,
Steph

3-13-2008 @ 11:17AM

caj said...

I love how Carr critics always seem to forget that he injured his back in Carolina. Until they signed Vinny, Jake & Carr were all they had. Jake couldn't play and Carr was injured, but played anyway.

I'll never understand how Houston fans knock Carr and praise Matt Schaub. Carr missed maybe one game in his brutal five years at Houston. Schaub gets hurt if the wind's blowing too hard.

You can be critical of David Carr all you want, but at least he'll give you everything he's got and will play until you drag him out of the game.

3-13-2008 @ 11:25AM

caj-

So he stunk in Carolina because of his back? And he was good for the Texans because he stayed in the games and played horribly?

It was a mixed blessing that Carr was so durable during his time with the Texans. The team was so patient with him that they rarely saw what other quarterbacks could do with the same talent. In very limited action, his backups actually looked good.

The beginning of the end for Carr was his disasterous performance against the Titans in 2006 on the road. He threw a horrible interception into triple coverage, a play that was scripted and where he had made the right decision in practice.

He got benched because he played so poorly, and Sage Rosenfels came in and almost won the game for them. Same line. Same receivers.

Rosenfels would have probably finished that season for the Texans but for a fluke injury to his hand.

As for Schaub, I believe the jury is out. He played very well when he was playing. And so did Rosenfels. Not perfect, but not awful. And Carr with basically the same group of players looked lost. He just did.

Are you his agent or something? Or did you go to Fresno State? Or are you a hopeful Giants fan? Or a relative? Because those are about the only people who will defend David Carr any more.

Thanks for reading and commenting,
Steph

3-13-2008 @ 4:16PM

BRIAN said...

You are just upset because Carr finaly got out of Houston, which is a horrible team. while he was there he not blocking, and one deccent WR. Carr has the talent to be a great qauterback unforunatly he got stuck on such a horrible team that did nothing to protect there investment. Maybe if the "Texan's" would have tried to build a deccent o-line and bring in a WR that could catch you would have a different opinion. Remeber its hard to through a football when your always on your back.

NYGiants#1 said...

I just hope nothing happens to Eli. If Carr is somehow playing, I say we are screwed.

3-13-2008 @ 4:17PM

I went to espn.com and read the article. I didn't see it as Carr throwing anyone under the bus. His remarks weren't directed at other teams, it was directed at the Giants.

Also, Carr admits he has a lot of work to do, that his past problems means he has to do a lot to prove himself, and that he's very willing to do whatever it takes to improve. I don't see that as arrogant or not self-awared.

A lot of things have happened to Carr in his short NFL career, but I still think he's a class act.

Gere said...

Although I too have a fairly low opinion on David Carr after watching Sage have a decent season after Schaub went down with basically the same line in place, not to mention less experienced recievers for the most part, it is not worthy of much more airtime in my opinion. If the Giants have the money to waste then so be it. How about some new current info on the Texans for a change? Who are they interviewing in the free agency? They've only signed one new guy and they've let a few others go. Is it possible they aren't gonna make any moves in the off season prior to the draft? In other words whats up with that?

L said...

As a Panthers fan, I was like some of you. I was excited about Carr. I felt like he had been a victim of a bad offenisve line. I felt like he was treated unfairly.

Then I saw him play. The Panthers' o-line is by no means fantastic, but I have never seen a quarterback that was a starter at any point play as poorly as he did. He held on to the ball for like 20 minutes. It was ridiculous. Some of the sacks weren't his fault but he was completely inept. It was very disappointing.

Oh, and btw - he didn't injure his back until midway through the season. He had at least a game or two before that happened.

3-14-2008 @ 12:11PM

Jason Alston said...

wow, i'm a panthers fan who cannot believe the defenses of Carr on this list. yes, funny, we actually have two very good TEs in King and Rosario. We have Smitty, Foster, despite his faults, could catch well for a RB. and Carter actually wasn't as bad as a lot of Panthers fans seem to think he is; he's just got an awkward barrel catch style but he's still a decent WR.

Carr couldn't get it to anyone of them. But you defenders will see. We panthers fans feel really stupid for not listening to the Houston fans. Hopefully you Carr defenders will feel stupid for not listening to us really soon

3-13-2008 @ 7:52PM

Ninja Tickets said...

It sounds like he's happy about the Giants, not really knocking on others before him.

john said...

Note to all:::::::::

FOR GODS sakes the guy is going to ride the frkn bench......calm the fk down.
You all nit-pik the hll out of him....can he be 1 iota better than Lorenz or Wright? I think so
Thats all we ask of him.......

3-14-2008 @ 8:09AM

Thomas said...

Wow, Im amazed so many people are defending Carr.

I watched this guy destroy the Panthers season last year (with an assist from Hurney and Fox). Yes, the Panthers didnt have a top flight O-line, but when a gezzer AND a rookie both put up better numbers, it pretty clear who the blame rests with.

Dont get me wrong, hes a nice enough guy who really tries his best...he just sucks. Itd be like putting me at QB; Id give it 100% too, Id just suck.