Following Derek Carr’s release by the Las Vegas Raiders, social media was in a frenzy. Raider Nation appeared as divided as ever; signing Jimmy Garoppolo and drafting Aidan O’Connell thereafter quelled some of the discontent. Still, the latter never got a clean shot when the team gave him the hallowed No. 4. Poor kid.
No matter what side of the argument you landed on, O’Connell’s number has continued to bring out an emotional response. Some say it’s just a number, while others see it as a sign of disrespect to Carr after his accomplishments. Be that as it may, everyone’s wondered just how all of that went down. Surely, Raiders’ brass knew what they were doing; Carr was, after all, a stalwart at quarterback for nearly a decade.
Something or nothing with Aidan O’Connell inheriting No. 4?
Well, Raiders insider Hondo Carpenter shared some insight into what could only be an issue for Raider Nation—what other fanbase in the NFL cares about this digit, right?
“They absolutely did know it was Derek’s number, and their process was, ‘Hey, Derek wanted to go.’ They were woefully blind to not think it would be a big deal to the fan base. Either way, the Carr haters would embrace it as ‘Ha-ha, that’s a big middle finger to Derek, and the others would say, ‘That’s a big disrespect to Derek.’ They did not read the room at all…”
Far be it for anyone to disagree, but it’s certainly farfetched to believe team brass thought there’d be no blowback. Sure, Carr wanted out, and while the Raiders don’t retire numbers, to hand off his so soon after his debacle was going to be bad for optics.
If nothing else, Aidan O’Connell had nothing to do with Derek Carr’s exit; why throw his name into the conversation? a conversation that, by all accounts, Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels weren’t going to have anymore after the quarterback was gone. “Not reading the room” really has come to define that now-defunct regime.
*Top Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Hunter Renfrow Boosts Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell’s Confidence with Uplifting Message
…except Carr didn’t want out. He said it many times. McDaniels wanted him gone because he had to be the unquestioned leader of the team and he could never be that with Carr there.
(by GTHANG)
Petty and classless is what McDaniels stands for.
Carr wanted out, like, when? After they benched him to avoid injury which would make his contract guaranteed?
McDaniels did the same thing to the QB room in Denver when he got rid of Jay Cutler for Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow: got rid of the better player in favor of Yes Men with less talent.
The good news is Denver went on one of the best runs in franchise history after firing him, culminating in a Super Bowl win 5 years later.
Whatever happens with AOC, get him a new number next year. The kid deserves better.
What was his # at Purdue?
I think it was … #16 ..so wonder when he will get that #??
Wonder if he will change to any different number
Everyone needs to get over their selves. Derrick Carr is not that good of a qb. Average at best. Look # 24 Charles Woodson, #83 Ted Hendricks, # 81 Tim Brown, #32 Marcus Allen, #34 Bo Jackson, #37 Lester Hayes, none of their numbers were retired. They were 20X better player than Carr. Carr couldn’t even hold their jock straps. So get over yourselves. There are alot more numbers I could list, but I think anyone than has an IQ higher than a single digit gets this gist.
(By Tony Brucks)
Really?
Honestly I dont see an issue here and I dont believe DC, Aidan or the Raiders brass care in the least.
To be anything immortal to Raider Nation fans you have to win a SB for us.
Otherwise….PISS OFF!
No one is saying retire the number. But putting it on the kid the same year you run Carr out of town shows how childish McDaniels is.
This is a lame story, Why? Your saying that any QB cannot wear a previous number. So it was disrespectful for Gannon to wear Stablers #12 and Meyer to wear TE Wallers # 87. Until a jersey # is retired, a player can wear any number jersey they want.
If it was the players choice who cares. I just think alot of us are thinking it was McDick rubbing salt in the wound to Carr and Waller and putting the new kids in a tough spot.
1st off Wallers # was 83 not 87. 2nd it was assigned to Aiden by the dumba–. 3rd It was a disrespect move ?. 4th Carr had no desire to play for another organization until the dumba– decided he needed a scapegoat for his terrible coaching and talent evaluation of players. Same people complaining that this was nothing are the same people who thought McDaniels & Jimmy G was the savior. The roster is much worse off now in comparison to the end of 21 season and part of that is Jimmy in Carr out.
I’ve been a Raiders fan since the early 70’s.
I have always rooted for the team. It takes more than one guy to win! In today’s game guys come and go; some to soon and some not soon enough. I doubt that Carr cares that someone else is wearing his #4 jersey.
I don’t think Carr is looking at coming back so I don’t think he cares. It was definitely meant to insult Carr but I think Carr is bigger than that to let it bother him. I liked him as a Raider, but I also like the the potential i see with Aiden. I haven’t heard Carr mention anything about it. Has anybody else heard anything? It’s a business! They’re cashing bigger checks than a lot of us will ever see. So let’s put our big boy pants on and quit whining about it.
exactly the kind of filler article typical of bye week… nothing to write or talk about, but let’s just try to stir something up… guess I can’t get those few mins back I wasted reading this….
Look at your roster back in training camp. There were literally no “QB numbers” left.