VegasSportsToday.com
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr may not remember the exact day he first met star wide receiver Davante Adams when they both played football at Fresno State.
But he’ll certainly remember the day they took to the practice field at the Raiders practice facility in Henderson this past week.
“I’m trying to think of the actual day,” Carr said. “He may know easier than me. He’s younger than me. He may remember that day. I remember the first moment like on the football field.”
That first practice, Carr remembers, Adams made such an impression that he went up to head coach Pat Hill and implored him not to redshirt Adams.
“I remember saying that we don’t need to redshirt him, let him play,” Carr said. “And Pat was like, ‘No, no, no, no. I’m going to let him grow,’ which it ended up working out for him obviously. I just remember that moment I would throw the routes to my guys that were playing in the game and then I would tell Davante to go just to build that chemistry before we got to play because you could just see that he was a special talent for sure.”
The Raiders traded their first and second round draft picks this past spring to obtain Adams, who made eight straight Pro Bowls while a member of the Green Bay Packers from 2014-21.
While at Fresno State, Carr and Adams combined for 3,037 yards and 39 touchdowns in two seasons. Both were second round draft picks, Carr in 2013 and Adams in 2014.
But while the two hope to rekindle that college chemistry, Carr said it’s mostly about winning football games. And with a strong group of receivers around him, it’s not quite as important to always feel he has to carry the load.
“All the guys in there are so unselfish,” Carr said. “I walked into a conversation with him and Hunter (Renfrow) and Darren (Waller), all these guys are talking about, ‘I don’t care about this. I don’t care about this, let’s just win.’ Like they don’t care.
“Two of them are going off, why is he not? That’s how it usually works. And so, to us, we’re just trying to figure out a way to get better and to win football games.”