Very few people in the NFL have embodied the term faith, family, football more than former Las Vegas Raiders and current New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr.
Carr, an 11-year NFL veteran and father of four children with his wife Heather, has been dealing with a shoulder injury that he's trying to get right before the 2025 NFL season.
While not the quarterback of the Raiders anymore, he is certainly beloved and he recently revealed that his wife, when he was supposed to be going to the doctor for an injury, suffered a miscarriage.
"Been in the emergency room hours of time." Said Carr. "You know, we're in there for a while, and they finally come back and they say, we have great news. Because, you know, every word that comes to mind is coming to mind, you know. What? What is really going on? And because this, this, this was a scary situation to see your wife like that, and they come in, great news. You are completely fine."
"Like what? But what is happening like? So we're thankful, right? We're celebrating like, yes. Like, all we've prayed is that she would be okay, but what we didn't know, which was, came to a complete shock and surprise to us, is that we had a miscarriage. I didn't, she did. We had a miscarriage and we didn't know we had a baby. So now we're hit with this and this emotional toll of wait, we had a child?"
"And so I don't just have four babies. We have five. One is in heaven. We have three little boys, a little girl, and we'll get to meet the other one when we get to heaven someday. But I say all that to say, let's be a people that doesn't judge and point out and just think the worst when you don't really know what people are going through. Amen. And so we've been taking care of our family, and that's if it's going to be faith, family, football, then it's going to be faith, family, football, no matter what the situation is, amen."
Carr illustrates something that often gets lost in football. The NFL is entertainment, it's passionate, but it's also just a game.
Carr remains one of the classiest players in the league, and as his family navigates this recent tragedy, it's important to remember why football does not come before faith and family.
The Carr family remains committed in their efforts to provide accessible healthcare through their work with Valley Children's Healthcare.
