How do you repair a damaged quarterback? Football is a cerebral game, but the mental aspect matters more for some positions than others. Kickers are the most documented, but quarterbacks are equally prone to suffering because they “get into their head.” Put them in the same pot as closers, golfers, free throw shooters — in a situation where precision is paramount and pressure is overbearing, the chances to crumble internally start to multiply.
With passers, it can be even worse: the task is not simply to hit a receiver in the hands, between two defenders, 40 yards downfield — he also has to avoid being walloped by a defender. When a quarterback takes a few too many beatings, the confidence needed to succeed begins to subside.
Take the tale of David Carr. He provides a wonderful avenue to examine the debilitation and theoretical regeneration of a once-promising signal caller.
A quick recap: Carr, who starred at Fresno State in the early 2000s, was selected first overall in the 2002 draft by the expansion Houston Texans. Before the ink could dry on his contract, he was the face of the new franchise and given the easy task of becoming an NFL star and putting the team on the map. He was a guy whose success at the collegiate level lasted for just about a year and a half in a non-BCS conference — his potential as a mobile but potent passer, as much as any production, led to his high draft standing.
His career started well enough: the Texans defeated their in-state rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, in their opening game. But then Carr became a human punching bag for the rest of his stay in Houston. In three of his five seasons, he led the league in sacks taken, and in his 2002 rookie year, he set the NFL single season record for most sacks — he was downed an astounding 76 times.
After only limited production, he parted ways with Houston in 2006, had a short stay in Carolina, where he started four games but missed much of the year with injury, and then went to New York as a backup for two more seasons before signing with the San Francisco 49ers this month.
On Monday, he had a short but revealing interview with Greg Papa on Chronicle Live in which he detailed his experience in Houston, which left him with a “bust” label and severe holes in his makeup as a quarterback.
Two points in particular arose: Carr lost all trust in his line and had an internal clock that, after only a second, would tell him to get rid of the ball or take off and run, and that his maturity had been stunted.
The first made him ineffective as a passer. Quarterbacks do not have a tremendous amount of time to stay in the pocket, but they have a good three seconds at minimum — that is a tremendous difference from just one count. It means that he can assess his options and allow routes to develop. Even if nothing is available, he still has enough time to check down. But if he has happy feet, little can be accomplished.
The second made him ineffective as a leader. Because Houston was an expansion team, there was hardly any veteran presence to teach him the ropes. Papa raised a point about Carr leaving the practice facility early in Houston, which older players saw as a faux pas. Even if it was unintentional, Carr appeared entitled, and that, ultimately, was what mattered.
So, how to remedy these issues?
The immaturity problem was vanquished in part because of age and experience, but also because of Carr’s stays in Carolina and New York. With the Panthers, he learned the norms from Vinny Testaverde, a longtime NFL quarterback who was well into his 40s at the time; and with the Giants, he learned how to get ready in the proper manner — the starter, Eli Manning, in Carr’s words, “prepared, prepared and prepared, and when he was done preparing, he prepared again.”
That internal development in turn aided his admitted mental fragility. In New York, for the first time, he was not expected to start or even play — there was little, if any, pressure. Instead, he reunited with Chris Palmer, the Giants’ quarterbacks coach and the Texans’ former offensive coordinator, with whom he had a prosperous relationship. With the aid of Palmer (and Manning), as well as one of the league’s better offensive lines, Carr was able to reconstruct his game from the start and get back to the point where he wasn’t forced to take off and run instantaneously. Even then, he knew he was not ready to go back into a starter’s role after one season, so he re-upped with the Giants in 2009. By the end of the year, the aforementioned preparation had restored his confidence, and in limited action with the Giants, Carr succeeded.
That led to the current offseason, where Carr wound up in a situation where he may get a chance to start again. The Niners are invested in Alex Smith, but his hold on the top job is not cemented. After three years in two different cities, where Carr was essentially mentally reconstructed, he may have an opportunity to display his progression.
The initial question remains unsolved. But if Carr finds success in San Francisco, his experience may provide a basis for answering it.
Right before the Final Four, when NBA and NHL postseasons are upcoming, Wyndam Makowsky just wrote a column about David Carr. Ask him why at makowsky “at” stanford.edu.