Las Vegas Raiders Derek Carr Has Some Kenny Stabler in Him

The Raiders Derek Carr knew passing Kenny "The Snake" Stabler on the all-time passing list was big. Carr has demonstrated he has some of, "The Snake," in him.

When Derek Carr broke Kenny “Snake” Stabler’s Raiders record for career passing yards last year in his sixth season with the Silver and Black, he didn’t take it for granted.

Carr did it in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Oakland Coliseum last September and having grown up in a family of Raiders fans in Bakersfield before going to Fresno State in California’s Central Valley, he knew exactly what it meant.

“I don’t know if anyone loves (Stabler) as much as my Dad, to be honest with you,” Carr told reporters in the locker room afterward “I don’t know if my dad is happy or sad. We’ll see.

“ … I’m humbled. He’s the GOAT, man. He’s the gold standard for Raider quarterbacks and he’s someone that as I grew up, that’s all I heard about in stories from my Dad. He was the first football player I ever knew about.

“I’m trying to be respectful of that honor, respectful of that moment. And honor him, honor his family. I’ve said that I’d do it with honor, I’ve said that I’d do it with respect, and that’s what I’m doing.”

In a Twitter post, Carr added: “Shout out to the GOAT, Ken Stabler. I wish we could have had at least a dinner together. With your hard work you gave a kid something to look up to and work hard towards.”

Carr has passed for 3,313 yards in his six seasons with the Raiders, while Stabler had 2,481 yards in 10 seasons, and Carr probably will pass Snake’s record of 150 career touchdown passes this season, because he has 143.

However, it’s not the same game these days, and they did it in different ways.

The biggest difference in the two is easy to spot, as Hall of Famer Stabler probably is the best left-handed quarterback in history, and while Carr is right-handed all the way, he has thrown a few passes left-handed while under duress.

The 6-3, 210-pound Carr was drafted by the Raiders in the second round (No. 36) overall of the 2014 NFL Draft and became the starter in the first game of the regular season that year.

Stabler, who was nearly identical in size at a listed 6-3 and 215, also was chosen by the Raiders in the second round (No. 52) out of Alabama in 1968, and passed up chances to sign with the New York Yankees and Houston Astros because he wanted to play football.

Snake was frustrated by sitting on the bench for the Raiders until he became the full-time starter in 1973, but he was able to watch and learn from veteran quarterbacks Daryle Lamonica and George Blanda, who played when until he was 48.

Stabler stepped into a lineup that included Hall of Famers Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw and Art Shell blocking for him, and was throwing to two more Hall of Famers, Fred Biletnikoff, and Dave Casper, plus Cliff Branch, who should be enshrined at Canton.

However, Snake was the unquestioned leader and he led the way to four AFC Championship Games in five years, and best of all a 32-14 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.

Stabler and Carr do have one unteachable trait on common, the ability to take the Raiders down the field to win at the end of the game.

On the Snake’s resume are those incredible games with names: “Ghost to the Post,” “The Sea of Hands,” and “The Holy Roller,” in which he helped pull out victories at the finish.

Carr has never had the same kind of talent around him, but in 2016 he led the Raiders to a 12-4 record and a playoff spot, by engineering seven fourth-quarter comeback victories. In fact, Carr has led the Raiders to 18 comeback victories in the final quarter comebacks in his career.

Just like Snake, who had 16, used to do.

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