ALAMEDA — Not many junior high school football games are attended by future Hall of Fame wide receivers.
And a young Derek Carr from First Colony Middle School almost had it right when he told Houston Texans wideout Andre Johnson as they played catch that, one day, Carr would throw Johnson passes that count — NFL passes.
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Carr and Johnson will be on opposite sides of the field when the Raiders and Texans line up Sunday in Oakland, and the Raiders quarterback will be well distanced from the fond connections to the Texans franchise developed after his brother was the expansion team’s first overall selection in 2002.
“These guys are trying to rip my head off,” Carr said Wednesday. “I’m not thinking about being a kid and watching those games.
“They’re coming after me.”
Carr, meanwhile, is after his first career victory.
“I have so many memories, but my goal isn’t to enjoy watching them play," the 23-year-old said. “My goal now is to go out and beat them.”
Johnson, 33, was Houston’s top draft pick — third overall — a year after David Carr in 2003. Seven Pro Bowls, almost 13,000 yards and more than a decade later, Derek will lead the Raiders against Johnson’s Texans in a game that’ll count.
“It’s pretty cool,” Carr said. “I don’t mean to make him feel old, though.”
