Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr wears No. 4 in honor of Brett Favre, the soon-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback who was once Carr’s football hero.
One of Carr’s top receivers now believes the third-year quarterback has a little Favre to his game.
“A gunslinger? He’s always going to be a gunslinger, and I love that,” Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree said, per ESPN. “An old, Brett Favre-type quarterback. He reminds me of Brett Favre, [and] Brett Favre’s one of the greatest players to ever play this game.”
Favre made a historic career out of playing quarterback with an effective recklessness rarely seen in the NFL game. He threw passes like he was making free spins at a casino. He threw 508 touchdowns and 338 interceptions; both numbers a direct result of his gunslinging nature.
A rocket right arm and an unwavering confidence to take chances connect Favre and Carr.
But the early numbers favor the apprentice.
Through two seasons, Carr has 53 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. In 2015, he tossed 32 scores with only 13 picks. Only four times did Favre ever throw 30 or more touchdowns with 15 or fewer interceptions in a single season.
While Crabtree never played with Favre, he did catch nine of Carr’s scores last season.
“The guy is amazing. He’s got talent,” Crabtree said. “We talk all the time on ways to get better on the field. I feel like he has taken that step, taken control of the offense, doing more managing of the offense.”
Big things are in Carr’s future if he follows Favre’s career arc.
During his third full year of starting in Green Bay, Favre threw 38 touchdowns, won the NFL’s MVP and took the Packers to the postseason. That 1995 season kicked off a historic run, which included two more MVPs, two Super Bowl trips and one Lombardi Trophy.
Carr is currently at the helm of a young, talented Raiders team. Could Oakland be the reincarnation of the mid-90’s Packers? It’ll take Carr channeling more of Crabtree’s quarterback comparison to make it happen.
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