Tribal Warfare
10-16-2009, 04:54 PM
Chiefs Insider Blog: The Other Brandon (http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2009/10/16/chiefs_insider_blog_the_other_brandon/)
Oct 16, 2009, 5:59:09 AM
NOTES FROM DC
October 16th – 4:25 PM
Redskins head coach Jim Zorn has just finished talking to the media in Washington. Here are a few tidbits that Chiefs fans might find interesting.
On Hunter Smith’s injury update: “We are going to punt Hunter tomorrow morning and make our decision based on how he performs. We are going to try to give him one more day. Hopefully 24 hours will help in some way. If he can punt and he feels good, then he will play.“
*Smith is listed as questionable (groin)
On Phillip Daniels and Cornelius Griffin: “They both practiced today. They are going to be listed as questionable, but I have a good feeling about those two guys. They both got some strength back in their arms.“
*Daniels (biceps) and Griffin (elbow) are listed as questionable
On Clinton Portis and Albert Haynesworth: “Clinton Portis is probable and ready to go. Albert Haynesworth is probable too he practiced as well.“
On Anthony Montgomery: “I have not decided about that yet. He is likely.“
*Montgomery is listed as questionable (knee)
On the status of the new offensive line: “Here is what I saw, they really are taking pride in what they are doing this year. They have really worked hard and put a lot of stuff together. I mean they are still out there working now as we speak. They are very serious about putting a really good game together. They don’t want it to be them, I am proud about the work they are doing. They don’t want anybody to say their name.“
*This is something that we’ve talked a lot about this week on kcchiefs.com. The Redskins are at a worst-case scenario on the offensive front with their two best offensive linemen out - LT Chris Samuels and RG Randy Thomas. Washington will be playing a few career backups in positions that are deemed “out of position” this weekend.
I’d also like to give credit where credit is due. Washington DE Phillip Daniels gets my “tough guy” award for the season to date. This guy’s bicep muscle was torn and became detached from his lower arm last weekend in Carolina. Not only is he trying to play this weekend, but he’s delaying surgery until the offseason, when he will ultimately have his bicep re-attached. Kudos to Daniels, his story makes me cringe.
*Thanks to the Redskins PR department for these quotes from Zorn.
HURRY-UPS AND HEADSETS
October 16th – 3:02 PM
Here’s a dose of NFL rules for you on another overcast Friday afternoon here in Kansas City. Let’s talk headsets. The communication devices in the helmets of NFL quarterback are on (in the Chiefs case) a direct feed to the head coach. Yep, that’s right, QB Matt Cassel has Todd Haley chirping in his ear after ever whistle, for good or bad.
Here is the catch. At the 15 second park on the play clock, the line goes dead. From that point it’s hand signals and audibles, but no direct communication. Although there have been rumors of coaches bending these rules a bit in the past, the league generally keeps close tabs on communication enforcement.
So that brings us to the communication situation when a team goes into the two-minute drill in the final stages of a game. This was the case in Kansas City last Sunday vs. Dallas and the result was arguably the Chiefs best offensive series of the season to date capped off by a game-tying TD toss to WR Dwayne Bowe with just 24 seconds remaining.
”I’m able to help or give pointers,” Haley said. “Some of that I was and some of that I wasn’t. It’s a valuable tool for a coach, obviously.“
The two-minute drill is a true test for quarterbacks and play callers. The time constraints are exactly why you seen more breakdowns and mental errors during the final two minutes. Wrong routes result in incompletions and interceptions, while missed blocks result in sacks and fumbles. The same can be said for defenses as alignment errors and miscommunication can lead to big plays. The final two minutes of a tight football game are the most error-filled moments during the course of a 60-minute game, on both sides, and rightly so.
The hurry-up drill is worked on during each practice across every league of football for that very reason. It’s a tough task as the difficulty increases, while the margin for error decreases.
”Oh yeah, without a doubt because he’s got to get them lined up, he’s got to call the play, he’s got to signal early whatever we’re doing, and he’s running the show,” Haley said of the increased difficulties quarterbacks face in two-minute situations. “There’s no time to think about much else.”
Washington head coach Jim Zorn took notice of Cassel’s performance as well.
”For the QB, he is out there wanting to create an opportunity for his team and that’s what happens in those situations,” Zorn said. “You just get in a rhythm and I think that is what happens to these quarterbacks, our as well. That right there, gets you very excited and then the clock and field position start making a difference on the defense. Everything gets a little more tense on the defensive side of the ball because you kind of know how you are going to attack them on offense. It is an exciting time, it is what quarterbacks who make it in the NFL do. The quarterbacks that can do that, that have struggled on offense the whole game but can put it together at the end are the teams that can just hang in there. They wait for the opportunity and it makes a big difference.”
The game’s best are able to maintain poise and confidence in these situations. Cassel did just that last Sunday. Building on positives are essential for this team right now. Let’s hope that Cassel and the Chiefs offense can swing off that momentum on Sunday.
HALEY WON’T SCRATCH ALBERT JUST YET
October 16th – 12:57 PM
Chiefs head coach Todd Haley discussed the chance of left tackle Branden Albert playing on Sunday following today’s practice. Albert missed his third consecutive day of work, in full, this afternoon.
“I’m still not ruling him out,” Haley said. “He’s making huge strides, so he’s doing everything in his power. He’s walking and getting around doing things that he wasn’t able to do. Each day has been big jumps for him.“
Part of the reason for Haley’s optimism regarding Albert playing on Sunday is due to the position that Albert plays on this team.
“Even if he weren’t the starter, but he were there for depth purposes, I guess that would mean like that,” Haley said. “Even if he’s not lining up first team, the fact that he’s there and filling in, if we thought that he could do that, it would be worthwhile.“
If Albert is not able to go, the “Willie Bloomquist” of the Chiefs front five - Wade Smith - is ready to step in as the first option off the bench. But Haley wouldn’t rule out the potential for rotating players in at the left tackle position. Those players include Ikechuku Ndukwe and practice squad member Barry Richardson.
“I would say that Wade took the most reps,” Haley said. “You could possibly see multiple guys in there.”
ALBERT STILL OUT
October 16th – 11:09 AM
The Chiefs are currently going through final preparations for the Redskins this Sunday at FedEx Field. For the third consecutive practice, LT Branden Albert (ankle) was off to the side on stationary bikes. Utility OL Wade Smith continued to get first-team reps at left tackle, while Barry Richardson (of the practice squad) backed him up. The Chiefs other tackle, Ikechuku Ndukwe, was running with the second team at right tackle during the early portion of practice.
Some good news, however, was the return of Jarrad Page to the practice field. Page has been nursing a sore shoulder.
FORMER PLAYERS OFFER HELPING HANDS TO THE COACHING STAFF
October 16th – 8:44 AM
Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star reported this morning that the Chiefs have switched wide receivers coaches, replacing Dedric Ward with former NFL RB Richie Anderson. Anderson has been with the team since training camp.
As Teicher pointed out, Anderson was indeed running wide receiver drills during practice yesterday, but it should also be noted that Chiefs head coach Todd Haley has yet to address that a switch has been made or the instances surrounding Anderson leading drills. Ward continues to remain with the coaching staff.
Anderson is just one of a handful of former NFL players who have lent a helping hand to the Chiefs coaching staff thus far in 2009. The newest “guest coach” to deck himself in red and gold is former NFL CB Otis Smith. Smith played 180 games (108 starts) over 13 NFL seasons and made his debut in Kansas City this week.
“We have a player, Otis Smith, who has been on teams that I’ve been on,” Haley said yesterday. “He was an excellent DB and we have him for the next couple of weeks to kind of help with some technique things with these younger corners. Like I said, we’ll do anything and everything to try to get better. I think those guys are working hard and I think they are getting better.”
Haley has already assembled a coaching staff with 44years of NFL playing experience, but has added helping hands that bump that number up to 92 total years. Thus far, including Smith and Anderson, the Chiefs have brought in four such coaches at various points over the 2009 season. The other two include former NFL DE Anthony Pleasant and TE Mark Bavaro.
It appears that the coaching titles will continue to remain the same at Arrowhead as Anderson is not new to the staff and has always been with Kansas City as an intern. He has experience in the NFL and is obviously sharing that with the wide receivers at the moment. Ultimately it is up to Haley as to how he splits up the coaching duties. He is obviously trying to find different way to make the team better, which may include expanding the roles of some staff members.
As a side note, it is obvious that Pleasant’s role on game day has changed over the course of the season. He has been visibly more active on the sidelines helping to signal in packages. Haley is obviously drawing from the experience of these former players, trying to put his players in position to perform in the best possible light.
THE OTHER BRANDON
October 16th – 5:59 AM
Quiz Time!
Here are the clues: He’s a second-year cornerback that has started all 21 games of his career and currently leads the Chiefs in passes defensed. He was a 2008 draft pick and finished fifth on the team in tackles a year ago.
This player started 42 collegiate games (including every contest over his final three seasons), played for a perennial powerhouse that has made eight consecutive postseason appearances and compiled a 50-4 overall record during this player’s tenure at the school. He was first-team All-America, all-conference, Defensive Player of the Week, Defensive MVP; you name it, he earned it.
Yep, you’re right. His name is Brandon. But not that Brandon, we’re talking about Carr, not Flowers.
Carr is the forgotten corner. Flowers stands front and center for this Chiefs defensive secondary, and rightly so, but the Brandon on the other side isn’t too shabby either. Carr’s accomplishment’s often go overlooked, such as his stride-for-stride coverage on Cowboys WR Mile Austin on third down last Sunday in overtime. The play ultimately gave the Chiefs the football at mid-field with a chance to win.
Carr is used to this type of thing by now. He’s been overlooked and unheard of for most of his football career. Those are the types of things that have motivated him to get to this point in his career; the point of playing arguably the toughest position in the toughest game in the world, against the world’s most elite athletes.
“I’ve seen Brandon continue to get better,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said yesterday. “He obviously looks the part; he’s big and strong and really fast. I think as we’ve gone forward here I’ve seen Brandon continue to improve and I think he wants to be a good corner in the league and I think he works at his craft very hard all the time before and after practice. I’m encouraged that Brandon is going to be a good corner in the league.”
Carr’s journey to the National Football League began with a Christmas gift. That fateful Christmas Day in the late ‘80s transpired into what would be a life-long passion for Carr.
“Before I even started playing youth football, my parents bought my brother and I play football sets for Christmas,” Carr said of his introduction to football. “My brother and I used to just go to the church out back and just play in the snow until the street lights came on…tackle football one-on-one.”
Taking lumps on a church sandlot from an elder brother is where Carr’s football career began. It’s also where he began the quest of proving himself as a football player. Anyone with an older sibling knows of the backyard battles that occur on any given afternoon, rain or shine. The youngest typically gets beaten by the eldest over, and over, and over again. But the younger brother rarely backs down from the dominant sibling and always asks for one more game, one more chance for victory. Why does the younger keep trying time and time again despite the imminent result? It’s simply the intrinsic motivation to prove their abilities to themselves, as well as their older brother.
What began with Carr trying to prove his worth to himself and his older brother as a child, transformed into the challenge of proving himself to coaches and teammates at the high school level. With four years separating the two brothers, Brandon’s arrival on the high school football scene was just in time to give him the chance to fill the shoes of his brother’s successful high school tenure. Carr decided to focus his efforts on the game, rather than the comparisons to his brother.
“My brother’s team won the school’s first district championship,” Carr said. “Then I came in and was kind of having to fill his shoes and stuff like that. But I loved the game of football, so I didn’t really let the pressure get to me. I just went out and had fun making plays. We ended up setting records and won the most games in school history.”
After three years of playing quarterback, Carr changed positions to wide receiver as a senior. The offensive position swap enabled Carr to play on both sides of the football. After an all-conference senior campaign that ended with 53 tackles and two INTs on defense and 24 receptions for 431 yards with four TDs on offense, scholarship offers started to roll in for Carr. The only problem was that all of the major programs were turning a blind eye towards the future pro.
“I was overlooked when being recruited by colleges because of my size and my speed,” Carr told me when he arrived in Kansas City last spring. “I ran something like a 4.8 (seconds in the 40-yard dash) coming out of high school. So, I had a chip on my shoulder to prove something once I got there and now, I’ve got a chip on my shoulder to prove myself in the NFL as well.”
Carr ended up signing at Grand Valley State (MI), becoming one of seven players in his graduating class to sign with a NCAA Division II football program. Although labeled a small school by NFL standards, Grand Valley State is anything but a pushover. The Lakers are the most dominant division II program of this decade, having appeared in five National Championship games since 2001, including three titles. Carr owns two of those national championship rings.
All 32 NFL teams have scouts scurrying back roads across the country unearthing talent. No rock is left unturned and if a player is talented enough to be a professional football player, the scouts will likely find them. But even for a dominant program like Grand Valley State, being labeled a “small-school player” is sometimes a tough mantra to shake. In fact, despite Grand Valley’s dominance on the field, Carr was the first Lakers player to be drafted since the seventh-round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
“They say that small school guys can’t match up with the big time wide receivers in this league,” Carr explained. “People missed on me coming out of high school.”
“I had a trainer in high school that was always instilling in our minds that we could be NFL players and I always kind of kept that in the back of my mind as I worked to improve at Grand Valley. I was always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave for workouts.”
All of the hard work and determination to prove his abilities to others paid off when the Chiefs made Carr the 140th overall selection in the 2008 NFL Draft.
“I was outside playing basketball just trying to relieve some of the stress when my name got called on draft day,” Carr said of his draft day experience. “I had my cell phone on me, but the Chiefs ended up calling my house phone. So, my dad ran outside when they called and I could tell that he had something big to tell me. He was like, ‘it’s the Chiefs,’ and I just started smiling.
“So we went back into the house and watched my name get called on television and the whole house just went crazy and then my cell phone just started blowing up.”
One of the main reasons that Carr was drafted by Kansas City was because Grand Valley State ran the same type of “Tampa Two” defense that former Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards had implemented at Arrowhead. Since then, we’ve also learned that Carr can cover in the 3-4 just as well.
It only took four months with the franchise for Carr to convince the former coaching staff that he was ready to contribute as a rookie. An impressive training camp and preseason showing earned Carr the club’s nickel back duties. He started both of his first two professional contests on defense when the Chiefs opened those games in their nickel package.
By game three, Carr made his first NFL start as a primary cornerback in place of injured CB Patrick Surtain. He responded by logging a team-high eight tackles. He’s been a main-stay opposite Flowers ever since, even though he’s had to convince an entirely new coaching staff of his abilities as well.
Carr has continually had to prove himself over and over again over the course of his football career. Truth is, however, he may not need to prove himself to as many people as he thinks. But don’t tell him that.
Oct 16, 2009, 5:59:09 AM
NOTES FROM DC
October 16th – 4:25 PM
Redskins head coach Jim Zorn has just finished talking to the media in Washington. Here are a few tidbits that Chiefs fans might find interesting.
On Hunter Smith’s injury update: “We are going to punt Hunter tomorrow morning and make our decision based on how he performs. We are going to try to give him one more day. Hopefully 24 hours will help in some way. If he can punt and he feels good, then he will play.“
*Smith is listed as questionable (groin)
On Phillip Daniels and Cornelius Griffin: “They both practiced today. They are going to be listed as questionable, but I have a good feeling about those two guys. They both got some strength back in their arms.“
*Daniels (biceps) and Griffin (elbow) are listed as questionable
On Clinton Portis and Albert Haynesworth: “Clinton Portis is probable and ready to go. Albert Haynesworth is probable too he practiced as well.“
On Anthony Montgomery: “I have not decided about that yet. He is likely.“
*Montgomery is listed as questionable (knee)
On the status of the new offensive line: “Here is what I saw, they really are taking pride in what they are doing this year. They have really worked hard and put a lot of stuff together. I mean they are still out there working now as we speak. They are very serious about putting a really good game together. They don’t want it to be them, I am proud about the work they are doing. They don’t want anybody to say their name.“
*This is something that we’ve talked a lot about this week on kcchiefs.com. The Redskins are at a worst-case scenario on the offensive front with their two best offensive linemen out - LT Chris Samuels and RG Randy Thomas. Washington will be playing a few career backups in positions that are deemed “out of position” this weekend.
I’d also like to give credit where credit is due. Washington DE Phillip Daniels gets my “tough guy” award for the season to date. This guy’s bicep muscle was torn and became detached from his lower arm last weekend in Carolina. Not only is he trying to play this weekend, but he’s delaying surgery until the offseason, when he will ultimately have his bicep re-attached. Kudos to Daniels, his story makes me cringe.
*Thanks to the Redskins PR department for these quotes from Zorn.
HURRY-UPS AND HEADSETS
October 16th – 3:02 PM
Here’s a dose of NFL rules for you on another overcast Friday afternoon here in Kansas City. Let’s talk headsets. The communication devices in the helmets of NFL quarterback are on (in the Chiefs case) a direct feed to the head coach. Yep, that’s right, QB Matt Cassel has Todd Haley chirping in his ear after ever whistle, for good or bad.
Here is the catch. At the 15 second park on the play clock, the line goes dead. From that point it’s hand signals and audibles, but no direct communication. Although there have been rumors of coaches bending these rules a bit in the past, the league generally keeps close tabs on communication enforcement.
So that brings us to the communication situation when a team goes into the two-minute drill in the final stages of a game. This was the case in Kansas City last Sunday vs. Dallas and the result was arguably the Chiefs best offensive series of the season to date capped off by a game-tying TD toss to WR Dwayne Bowe with just 24 seconds remaining.
”I’m able to help or give pointers,” Haley said. “Some of that I was and some of that I wasn’t. It’s a valuable tool for a coach, obviously.“
The two-minute drill is a true test for quarterbacks and play callers. The time constraints are exactly why you seen more breakdowns and mental errors during the final two minutes. Wrong routes result in incompletions and interceptions, while missed blocks result in sacks and fumbles. The same can be said for defenses as alignment errors and miscommunication can lead to big plays. The final two minutes of a tight football game are the most error-filled moments during the course of a 60-minute game, on both sides, and rightly so.
The hurry-up drill is worked on during each practice across every league of football for that very reason. It’s a tough task as the difficulty increases, while the margin for error decreases.
”Oh yeah, without a doubt because he’s got to get them lined up, he’s got to call the play, he’s got to signal early whatever we’re doing, and he’s running the show,” Haley said of the increased difficulties quarterbacks face in two-minute situations. “There’s no time to think about much else.”
Washington head coach Jim Zorn took notice of Cassel’s performance as well.
”For the QB, he is out there wanting to create an opportunity for his team and that’s what happens in those situations,” Zorn said. “You just get in a rhythm and I think that is what happens to these quarterbacks, our as well. That right there, gets you very excited and then the clock and field position start making a difference on the defense. Everything gets a little more tense on the defensive side of the ball because you kind of know how you are going to attack them on offense. It is an exciting time, it is what quarterbacks who make it in the NFL do. The quarterbacks that can do that, that have struggled on offense the whole game but can put it together at the end are the teams that can just hang in there. They wait for the opportunity and it makes a big difference.”
The game’s best are able to maintain poise and confidence in these situations. Cassel did just that last Sunday. Building on positives are essential for this team right now. Let’s hope that Cassel and the Chiefs offense can swing off that momentum on Sunday.
HALEY WON’T SCRATCH ALBERT JUST YET
October 16th – 12:57 PM
Chiefs head coach Todd Haley discussed the chance of left tackle Branden Albert playing on Sunday following today’s practice. Albert missed his third consecutive day of work, in full, this afternoon.
“I’m still not ruling him out,” Haley said. “He’s making huge strides, so he’s doing everything in his power. He’s walking and getting around doing things that he wasn’t able to do. Each day has been big jumps for him.“
Part of the reason for Haley’s optimism regarding Albert playing on Sunday is due to the position that Albert plays on this team.
“Even if he weren’t the starter, but he were there for depth purposes, I guess that would mean like that,” Haley said. “Even if he’s not lining up first team, the fact that he’s there and filling in, if we thought that he could do that, it would be worthwhile.“
If Albert is not able to go, the “Willie Bloomquist” of the Chiefs front five - Wade Smith - is ready to step in as the first option off the bench. But Haley wouldn’t rule out the potential for rotating players in at the left tackle position. Those players include Ikechuku Ndukwe and practice squad member Barry Richardson.
“I would say that Wade took the most reps,” Haley said. “You could possibly see multiple guys in there.”
ALBERT STILL OUT
October 16th – 11:09 AM
The Chiefs are currently going through final preparations for the Redskins this Sunday at FedEx Field. For the third consecutive practice, LT Branden Albert (ankle) was off to the side on stationary bikes. Utility OL Wade Smith continued to get first-team reps at left tackle, while Barry Richardson (of the practice squad) backed him up. The Chiefs other tackle, Ikechuku Ndukwe, was running with the second team at right tackle during the early portion of practice.
Some good news, however, was the return of Jarrad Page to the practice field. Page has been nursing a sore shoulder.
FORMER PLAYERS OFFER HELPING HANDS TO THE COACHING STAFF
October 16th – 8:44 AM
Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star reported this morning that the Chiefs have switched wide receivers coaches, replacing Dedric Ward with former NFL RB Richie Anderson. Anderson has been with the team since training camp.
As Teicher pointed out, Anderson was indeed running wide receiver drills during practice yesterday, but it should also be noted that Chiefs head coach Todd Haley has yet to address that a switch has been made or the instances surrounding Anderson leading drills. Ward continues to remain with the coaching staff.
Anderson is just one of a handful of former NFL players who have lent a helping hand to the Chiefs coaching staff thus far in 2009. The newest “guest coach” to deck himself in red and gold is former NFL CB Otis Smith. Smith played 180 games (108 starts) over 13 NFL seasons and made his debut in Kansas City this week.
“We have a player, Otis Smith, who has been on teams that I’ve been on,” Haley said yesterday. “He was an excellent DB and we have him for the next couple of weeks to kind of help with some technique things with these younger corners. Like I said, we’ll do anything and everything to try to get better. I think those guys are working hard and I think they are getting better.”
Haley has already assembled a coaching staff with 44years of NFL playing experience, but has added helping hands that bump that number up to 92 total years. Thus far, including Smith and Anderson, the Chiefs have brought in four such coaches at various points over the 2009 season. The other two include former NFL DE Anthony Pleasant and TE Mark Bavaro.
It appears that the coaching titles will continue to remain the same at Arrowhead as Anderson is not new to the staff and has always been with Kansas City as an intern. He has experience in the NFL and is obviously sharing that with the wide receivers at the moment. Ultimately it is up to Haley as to how he splits up the coaching duties. He is obviously trying to find different way to make the team better, which may include expanding the roles of some staff members.
As a side note, it is obvious that Pleasant’s role on game day has changed over the course of the season. He has been visibly more active on the sidelines helping to signal in packages. Haley is obviously drawing from the experience of these former players, trying to put his players in position to perform in the best possible light.
THE OTHER BRANDON
October 16th – 5:59 AM
Quiz Time!
Here are the clues: He’s a second-year cornerback that has started all 21 games of his career and currently leads the Chiefs in passes defensed. He was a 2008 draft pick and finished fifth on the team in tackles a year ago.
This player started 42 collegiate games (including every contest over his final three seasons), played for a perennial powerhouse that has made eight consecutive postseason appearances and compiled a 50-4 overall record during this player’s tenure at the school. He was first-team All-America, all-conference, Defensive Player of the Week, Defensive MVP; you name it, he earned it.
Yep, you’re right. His name is Brandon. But not that Brandon, we’re talking about Carr, not Flowers.
Carr is the forgotten corner. Flowers stands front and center for this Chiefs defensive secondary, and rightly so, but the Brandon on the other side isn’t too shabby either. Carr’s accomplishment’s often go overlooked, such as his stride-for-stride coverage on Cowboys WR Mile Austin on third down last Sunday in overtime. The play ultimately gave the Chiefs the football at mid-field with a chance to win.
Carr is used to this type of thing by now. He’s been overlooked and unheard of for most of his football career. Those are the types of things that have motivated him to get to this point in his career; the point of playing arguably the toughest position in the toughest game in the world, against the world’s most elite athletes.
“I’ve seen Brandon continue to get better,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said yesterday. “He obviously looks the part; he’s big and strong and really fast. I think as we’ve gone forward here I’ve seen Brandon continue to improve and I think he wants to be a good corner in the league and I think he works at his craft very hard all the time before and after practice. I’m encouraged that Brandon is going to be a good corner in the league.”
Carr’s journey to the National Football League began with a Christmas gift. That fateful Christmas Day in the late ‘80s transpired into what would be a life-long passion for Carr.
“Before I even started playing youth football, my parents bought my brother and I play football sets for Christmas,” Carr said of his introduction to football. “My brother and I used to just go to the church out back and just play in the snow until the street lights came on…tackle football one-on-one.”
Taking lumps on a church sandlot from an elder brother is where Carr’s football career began. It’s also where he began the quest of proving himself as a football player. Anyone with an older sibling knows of the backyard battles that occur on any given afternoon, rain or shine. The youngest typically gets beaten by the eldest over, and over, and over again. But the younger brother rarely backs down from the dominant sibling and always asks for one more game, one more chance for victory. Why does the younger keep trying time and time again despite the imminent result? It’s simply the intrinsic motivation to prove their abilities to themselves, as well as their older brother.
What began with Carr trying to prove his worth to himself and his older brother as a child, transformed into the challenge of proving himself to coaches and teammates at the high school level. With four years separating the two brothers, Brandon’s arrival on the high school football scene was just in time to give him the chance to fill the shoes of his brother’s successful high school tenure. Carr decided to focus his efforts on the game, rather than the comparisons to his brother.
“My brother’s team won the school’s first district championship,” Carr said. “Then I came in and was kind of having to fill his shoes and stuff like that. But I loved the game of football, so I didn’t really let the pressure get to me. I just went out and had fun making plays. We ended up setting records and won the most games in school history.”
After three years of playing quarterback, Carr changed positions to wide receiver as a senior. The offensive position swap enabled Carr to play on both sides of the football. After an all-conference senior campaign that ended with 53 tackles and two INTs on defense and 24 receptions for 431 yards with four TDs on offense, scholarship offers started to roll in for Carr. The only problem was that all of the major programs were turning a blind eye towards the future pro.
“I was overlooked when being recruited by colleges because of my size and my speed,” Carr told me when he arrived in Kansas City last spring. “I ran something like a 4.8 (seconds in the 40-yard dash) coming out of high school. So, I had a chip on my shoulder to prove something once I got there and now, I’ve got a chip on my shoulder to prove myself in the NFL as well.”
Carr ended up signing at Grand Valley State (MI), becoming one of seven players in his graduating class to sign with a NCAA Division II football program. Although labeled a small school by NFL standards, Grand Valley State is anything but a pushover. The Lakers are the most dominant division II program of this decade, having appeared in five National Championship games since 2001, including three titles. Carr owns two of those national championship rings.
All 32 NFL teams have scouts scurrying back roads across the country unearthing talent. No rock is left unturned and if a player is talented enough to be a professional football player, the scouts will likely find them. But even for a dominant program like Grand Valley State, being labeled a “small-school player” is sometimes a tough mantra to shake. In fact, despite Grand Valley’s dominance on the field, Carr was the first Lakers player to be drafted since the seventh-round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
“They say that small school guys can’t match up with the big time wide receivers in this league,” Carr explained. “People missed on me coming out of high school.”
“I had a trainer in high school that was always instilling in our minds that we could be NFL players and I always kind of kept that in the back of my mind as I worked to improve at Grand Valley. I was always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave for workouts.”
All of the hard work and determination to prove his abilities to others paid off when the Chiefs made Carr the 140th overall selection in the 2008 NFL Draft.
“I was outside playing basketball just trying to relieve some of the stress when my name got called on draft day,” Carr said of his draft day experience. “I had my cell phone on me, but the Chiefs ended up calling my house phone. So, my dad ran outside when they called and I could tell that he had something big to tell me. He was like, ‘it’s the Chiefs,’ and I just started smiling.
“So we went back into the house and watched my name get called on television and the whole house just went crazy and then my cell phone just started blowing up.”
One of the main reasons that Carr was drafted by Kansas City was because Grand Valley State ran the same type of “Tampa Two” defense that former Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards had implemented at Arrowhead. Since then, we’ve also learned that Carr can cover in the 3-4 just as well.
It only took four months with the franchise for Carr to convince the former coaching staff that he was ready to contribute as a rookie. An impressive training camp and preseason showing earned Carr the club’s nickel back duties. He started both of his first two professional contests on defense when the Chiefs opened those games in their nickel package.
By game three, Carr made his first NFL start as a primary cornerback in place of injured CB Patrick Surtain. He responded by logging a team-high eight tackles. He’s been a main-stay opposite Flowers ever since, even though he’s had to convince an entirely new coaching staff of his abilities as well.
Carr has continually had to prove himself over and over again over the course of his football career. Truth is, however, he may not need to prove himself to as many people as he thinks. But don’t tell him that.