Was Raiders’ Derek Carr the ‘motherf—er’ Tom Brady referred to before he joined Buccaneers?
A new challenger has entered the arena.
That said, a new quarterback has been linked to Tom Brady’s viral quote in which he dubbed an unnamed passer “Motherf-er” after finding out QB’s team wasn’t interested in signing him for free agency to sign: Derek Carr from the robbers.
New evidence has uncovered what was widely believed to be a mystery solved. That proof is a story shared by UFC President Dana White during an appearance on UFC 278’s “GronkCast,” which Brady’s favorite tight-end hosted.
During his appearance in the alternate cast, White claimed to have brokered a deal that would have sent Brady and Gronkowski to the Raiders instead of the Buccaneers in 2020. White – whose story was confirmed on air by Gronkowski – said it was far from a done deal before then-coach Jon Gruden “blew it up”.
Dana White says Brady and Gronk ➡️ Raiders “was almost a done deal”. 😳 #UFC278 pic.twitter.com/buWEXxi5Ho
— Sports Center (@Sports Center) August 21, 2022
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White spoke vaguely about more behind-the-scenes details, adding even more intrigue to the already massive storyline in the NFL. And now the question has to be asked: Could Carr be the “mother” Brady was talking about?
Is Derek Carr Brady’s “mother”?
The timing of White’s story appears to align with Brady’s viral clip, in which he expressed disbelief that a team would reject him because of their current quarterback:
“One of the teams wasn’t interested in the end. I was like, ‘Are you staying with this motherfucker?'”@TomBrady Receipts kept through his free agency 🤐 @brgridiron#TheShopHBO The premiere is Friday at 9:30 p.m @hbomax pic.twitter.com/lDW8ywrLLP
– Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 21, 2021
Remarkably, White said that the deal to bring Brady and Gronkowski to Las Vegas was all but done, after which Gruden essentially nixed it. That the rejection came in the late stages of negotiations would lend credibility to Brady’s claim that “one of the teams ended up not being interested.”
So: Could Carr have been that quarterback? His credentials at the time were less than stellar. He was 39-55 as a starter, which included a 12-4 campaign in 2016 that saw the Raiders, then in Oakland, knock out the Texans in the first round after Carr suffered a broken leg in Week 16. It was his only winning season in Oakland.
Carr’s stats at the time weren’t bad, but they certainly weren’t Brady’s caliber: a 64 percent career completion percentage, 22,793 passing yards and 143 touchdowns with 62 interceptions. He was a three-time Pro Bowler, but he hadn’t enjoyed that status in two seasons.
(For what it’s worth, the Raiders went 8-8 in 2020 while Brady, Gronk and the Bucs went 11-5 en route to a Super Bowl win in the duo’s first season in Tampa).
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Naturally, given that Brady is the most successful quarterback in NFL history, this led people to wonder which team might possibly reject him. At the time, it was thought to be one of the other two finalists Brady had reportedly considered freehand before signing with the Bucs: the Chargers and the 49ers.
Brady indicated in his ESPN documentary Man in the Arena that he may have been interested in the Bears as well, but most people seemed to agree on 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who was once Brady’s backup in New England.
That could still be the case (or it could be Carr or someone else entirely). No one will know for sure until Brady reveals this himself, which is unlikely. Until then, the evidence points to either Garoppolo or Carr.
In the latter case at least, the evidence is compelling.