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
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