Raiders QB Derek Carr can’t stop praising his mentor Kobe Bryant. Carr claimed that the NBA legend’s training advice greatly helped him in speeding the recovery process.
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The Raiders made the playoffs for the first time last season since 2016 and a lot of credit has to go to their super talented quarterback Derek Carr.
Carr has been with the Raiders since 2014. The franchise persisted with him through injuries and it looks like he is eager to keeping repaying the faith showed in him by the team.
In the previous season, Carr appeared in all 17 games and threw for 4803 yards with 23 touchdowns to go with it. He’s currently signed to a three-year, $121.5 million deal. Moreover, he can’t wait to deliver his best for the team this time around as well.
In order to get in the groove, Carr recently joined the training camp. In fact, this season, he is eager to make use of a tip given by basketball legend Kobe Bryant that will make him even more efficient.
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Kobe Bryant’s advice made 31-year-old Derek Carr feel like 21
For Carr, late Kobe Bryant was a mentor. The NBA superstar had suggested Derek to add stretching to his preparation and recovery routines. “Kobe was such a mentor, someone I looked up to,” Carr said, as reported by The Athletic’s Vic Tafur.
“So anything he said, I said, ‘I might as well start this stretching stuff.’ And it’s really made me feel like I’m a rookie. I’m 31 but I feel like I’m 21. And I think recovery-wise, that’s helped me the most,” the Raiders QB added.
The routine eases the pain associated with muscle stiffness which is why Derek pays a lot of attention to it. “For a lot of athletes, the posterior chain, especially for a quarterback, a rotational athlete or a pitcher rotation, you gotta do some things to counter that and to keep yourself balanced, especially if you’re going to rotate and then go play golf afterward,” Carr said.
“I have a stretch class that I do once a week, and that’s one thing that Kobe taught me. He said ‘stretch,” Derek further stated. Carr is a veteran of the game. He has only been with the Raiders throughout his NFL stint till this point. In addition to this, he signed a 3-year $121.5 million extension deal this offseason.
It will be interesting to see how he leads his unit this season.
