Derek Carr attempts to clarify his ‘true Raiders fan’ comments

In his press conference Monday, Derek Carr raised some eyebrows and sparked quite a bit of controversy when he said that those fans who are not sticking with the team now that it will be headed to Las Vegas are not ‘true Raiders fans’.

A great many people saw this as insensitive to those fans who had stuck with the team through several decades of losing as well those who remained loyal after the team had moved from Oakland to Los Angeles in the early 80s, but who may have reached their breaking point with this move.

After apparently receiving some blowback for his comments, Carr wanted to make sure his words were not being misconstrued, so he took to twitter to clarify.

His clarification may be important to some who perhaps thought he was disrespecting certain fans based on where they are from. Presumably this would be directed especially to those fans in Oakland, many of whom are feeling a bit left behind with team setting course for elsewhere.

Carr is sending a message of inclusion among the fans, which is welcome. And it is needed. His previous statement which upset people, however, was not about those who are still onboard as a fan despite the move, it was about those who, as he put it “split” from the team over the move.

That much was understood by myself as well as most responses I had viewed. Even some of the more disgruntled responses. His love for Oakland fans should have been apparent in the press conference when he said “we have our fans here [in Oakland] that we need to take care of and that’s really important to me . . . my focus is here and now and making sure that our fans feel appreciated.”

Though if there were those who still thought Carr meant it as a blanket disrespect for those in Oakland who are still Raiders fans, well Carr is reiterating to those fans that he loves you just as much as the rest of the Raider Nation.