After 11 seasons in the NFL, Derek Carr is settling into the next phase of his career by being at home with his wife and their four kids in Fresno.
That doesn’t mean he will be home all the time. There will be trips, golfing, but more importantly, playing sports with his children — Dallas, 12; Deker, 9; Deakon, 6; and Brooklyn Mae, 4.
The former Fresno State star and his wife were honored Thursday morning at Fresno City Hall with a proclamation for “Derek and Heather Carr Day.”
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer spoke for a few minutes describing what Carr did at Fresno State, then the Raiders and Saints, and the charitable efforts by the Carrs after firstborn Dallas needed three surgeries as an infant in 2013 because of an intestinal complication and stayed in the Valley Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit for more than three weeks.
The Carrs made the move back to Fresno this spring and plan to send all four of their children through Fresno Christian schools.
“I loved the Valley growing up,” Carr said. “I really fell in love with the Valley when Dallas went through his surgeries and we would go to the grocery store ... we’d go anywhere ... I’d be walking down the ramp for a game and people would be saying ‘we’re praying for your son. We’re praying for you.’ It was such a special place and a special time for us that there was really no decision. We knew at some point we were back here.
“It just took (Dallas) to ask us ‘are we going to keep moving all the time?’”
Carr was drafted by the Raiders in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played for the Raiders for nine seasons before joining the New Orleans Saints.
Carr retired from the Saints in May after experiencing shoulder discomfort after a throwing session in Fresno.
Carr said he couldn’t throw the ball farther than 20 yards.
Carr called the Saints and said there might be a problem.
“I never had this,” he said. “I remember something happening in practice, but then I broke my hand that week. I didn’t even think about my shoulder anymore. My hands are in pieces. It was just a weird dynamic. I told the Saints immediately. We got on it and we just kind of went down the tract of what is possible. It was either me play it 80% and try to rehab it and get to a certain point, but one hit, one throw could change that in an instant.”
Carr said he could’ve opted for surgery, but he felt that wouldn’t be fair to the Saints “and just taking the money.”
Carr opted for retirement.
“It’s very easy for me to stay home and be with my kids and wife,” he said. “The hard part is that I love football and I can definitely see the future, pretty soon, helping in that realm in some way.”
This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 2:35 PM.