Derek Carr will play at Aloha Stadium for the fifth time in seven years on Sunday and has only one bad memory.
“Margus Hunt ripping my head off about eight times,” the former Fresno State quarterback said, referring to a 43-10 loss to Hunt and SMU in the 2012 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
Now the starting QB for the Oakland Raiders, Carr is back in town once again, chosen to play for Jerry Rice’s team in the 2016 NFL Pro Bowl on Sunday at Aloha Stadium.
Carr doesn’t quite have the history in Hawaii that New York Jets receiver Brandon Marshall has. Marshall is the only player to win MVP honors in the Hula Bowl, Hawaii Bowl and Pro Bowl games.
Yet, very few players outside of the Pro Bowl who didn’t suit up for UH in college have the history here that Carr has. Carr finished 3-0 against the Rainbow Warriors, starting the final two meetings, and also played in the one bowl game.
Now he’s back as a Pro Bowler in just his second year in the league.
“It’s surreal,” said Carr, who was chosen by the Raiders in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. “To be out here with these great football players just blows my mind.”
It took Carr two years before he took over as the full-time starter at Fresno State as a redshirt sophomore in 2011.
Even in 2009, when he was forced to take snaps as a true freshman against UH, the thought of the Pro Bowl did cross his mind.
Carr is a big dreamer, and playing at Aloha Stadium that first year wasn’t going to be just a one-time thing.
“My dreams ever since I was little have been far bigger than anything I have done,” said Carr, who led the nation in total offense as a senior. “Even when I stepped foot on that field in college, I would think about those things (like the Pro Bowl) and know that I’ve got to perform today because my dreams are bigger than this.
“I wanted to be here for the Pro Bowl some day and now I want to come back every year because I want to be one of the best players ever to play this game.”
Those same dreams and desires were echoed by wide receiver Amari Cooper, his Raiders teammate.
The pass-catching duo hooked up 72 times during Cooper’s rookie season this year for more than 1,000 yards and six touchdowns.
Cooper, who was the fourth pick out of Alabama last year, helped the Raiders finish 7-9 this season. Oakland had won only seven games the previous two years combined.
“Derek is a guy who wants to come to work every day to get better and we’re still getting used to each other,” Cooper said. “I’m really excited to work with him some more, knowing now how he throws balls and throws routes, and he’s a real pro. He’s very attentive to detail.”
Cooper finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Oregon’s Marcus Mariota in 2014 and was the first receiver taken in last year’s draft.
With fellow Pro Bowlers Khalil Mack and Latavius Murray, who are also in their first three years in the league, the Raiders have put together a nice foundation to try to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2002, when they lost to Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl.
As the quarterback, Carr will have it in his hands first and foremost, but at least he has a reliable receiver in Cooper he can put his trust in.
“He has the same mind-set that I’ve had since I was a little kid in that we want to be some of the greatest football players to ever play,” Carr said. “We want to make sure we’re in it every time.”
