Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and his team are having one great season on the field. Off the field, it has not been anywhere near as good.
It was just last month that head coach Jon Gruden had to resign following emails depicting him on a homophobic, misogynistic and racist manner were maid public record.
That in no way compares to the events of early Tuesday morning in Las Vegas when Carr’s now-former teammate Henry Ruggs was involved in a high-speed wreck that killed a young woman and left his girlfriend in serious condition.
Ruggs was arrested at the scene and charged with a DUI resulting in death. News on Wednesday broke indicating that he was going more than 150 miles-per hour and was two times the legal limit.
As for Derek Carr, he spoke with the media in his weekly press conference on Wednesday, touching on the Ruggs’ incident in the process.
“I will always be here for him,” Carr said. “That won’t change. I’ll prove that over the course of time to him. Not to anybody else,” Carr told reporters. “He needs people to love him right now. He’s probably feeling a certain type of way about himself right now. He needs to be loved. If no one else will do it, I’ll do it.”
The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback also sent his condolences to the victim’s family and those close to her.
“My heart first goes to the families that are involved,” Carr said. “There are things that happen in life for all of us that we don’t have control over, and you wish you did. I have a thousand questions I wish I could ask, but I don’t get those opportunities. I don’t understand everything and why certain things happen. I forever have relied on the foundation of who I am is my faith, and I’m going to stand on that when it’s hard, and I’m going to stand on that when it’s easy.”
The victim was a 23-year-old woman by the name of Tina Tintor who lived several blocks from the scene of the accident just west of the Las Vegas Strip. Her family was on hand during Ruggs’ first court appearance on Wednesday. The details of the young women’s death are about as harrowing as it gets.
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How do Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders focus on football?
The reality is that these Raiders now have to head to Jersey and take on the New York Giants Sunday afternoon. It’s going to be hard to focus on football given the circumstances leading up to that game. As Carr noted, he’ll do his best.
“From a football aspect, we’re ready to go,” Carr said. “We had a great practice. We’re dealing with a lot of things this year, that’s for sure. What a crazy year. I heard that a few times. Can we please have nothing else bad happen? At the end of the day, nobody cares (that the Raiders are hurting). We’ve got to do our job.”
Carr and the Raiders sit at a surprising 5-2 on the season and in first place in the AFC West. They’ll now have to navigate through the rest of the season without their top wide receiver, who Vegas released late Tuesday evening hours following his arrest.