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Giants sign QB David Carr
Former number one pick overall signs with Giants
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

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EAST RUTHERFORD - David Carr, the first overall selection in the 2002 NFL Draft, today joined the Giants as a backup quarterback to Eli Manning.

The Giants signed former number one overall draft pick QB David Carr.

Carr joins a cast of quarterbacks that includes Manning - the first choice of the 2004 draft and the Most Valuable Player of last month's Super Bowl - as well as Anthony Wright and Jared Lorenzen.

The 2008 season will be Carr's seventh in the NFL. He played five years for the Houston Texans before moving to the Carolina Panthers in 2007.

Carr has played in 82 career games with 79 starts. He started all 16 games four times in his five seasons with the Texans, including the last three. Last year with the Panthers, he played in six games with four starts.

When given time, Carr has been a prolific passer. He has completed 1,316 of 2,206 passes (59.7 percent) for 14,026 yards, 62 touchdowns and 70 interceptions. His career passer rating is 74.4.

But Carr often played behind porous offensive lines in Houston. He has been sacked 262 times in his career, including a record 76 for 411 yards in losses as a rookie in '04.

"I have a lot of calluses," Carr said. "I'm like an old carpenter - I've been through it. If you let that stuff affect you, you're not going to be able to do your job. One of the reasons I'm excited about coming here is they protect the quarterback well and they have playmakers on the outside."

Carr knows he must prove that he can produce on the field.

"I think any player coming into a situation like this has to prove something," Carr said. "I have to work just as hard or harder than the guys there. They've been to the top. They won a Super Bowl. They don't need our help."

Carr's offensive coordinator his first four years in Houston was Chris Palmer, who is entering his second season as the Giants' quarterbacks coach.

"I'm excited to meet up with Chris again," Carr said. "That's really the main reason I came up here. He has the best feel for what I'm doing. He knows what's best as far as what my mechanics should be when I throw the football."

The Giants are eager to see what Carr can do and if they can further develop his skills.

"David Carr is a talented player who came out as the number one pick in the draft," Coach Tom Coughlin said. "He is a smart and athletic player who has put up some big passing game numbers. We look forward to working with him on the fundamentals of the game. We do have some technical things to work on, but we are anxious to work with him in our program. If we can place him in a positive environment, perhaps he can reclaim some of the things that people saw to draft him in the first round."

"He has a strong skill set for the position and he has a history with Chris Palmer," general manager Jerry Reese said. "He is here to compete for a job, and I am looking forward to seeing him compete."

Carr had career-high totals of 54 passes and 39 completions in Giants Stadium against the Jets on Nov. 26, 2006. He tied the NFL single-game record with 22 consecutive completions vs. Buffalo on Nov. 19. 2006. Carr has passed for more than 300 yards in a game four times, including a career-high 372 against Minnesota on Oct. 10, 2004. He has directed 11 career game-winning drives in which the decisive points were scored in the fourth quarter or overtime, including one last Oct. 7 in New Orleans. Carr led the NFL with a career-high 68.3 completion percentage (hitting 302 of 442 passes) in 2006.

Last season in Carolina, Carr completed 73 of 136 passes (53.7 percent) for 635 yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions for a passer rating of 58.3. He stepped in late in a victory at Atlanta in Week 3 after starter Jake Delhomme suffered a season-ending elbow injury. The next week, Carr started for the first time and completed 19 of 41 passes in a loss to Tampa Bay. Carr started again the following week and hit 10 of 17 passes and threw a touchdown in the victory in the Superdome. His 10-yard pass to Steve Smith on third-and-10 set up John Kasay's 52-yard field goal as time expired. Carr later started games at Tennessee and the rematch with New Orleans. He did not play in the Panthers' final five games.

Carr was the first-ever draft choice of the expansion Texans in 2002 after an outstanding career at Fresno State. Despite facing constant pressure as a rookie, he completed 233 of 444 passes for 2,592 yards (the second-most for a rookie quarterback on an expansion team), nine touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

The next season, Carr started the first seven games, extending his streak to 23, a record for consecutive starts by a quarterback on an expansion team. He missed four games with ankle and shoulder injuries and completed 167 of 295 passes for 2,103 yards, nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Carr returned to the starting lineup against Tennessee on Dec. 21, 2003 to begin a streak of 50 consecutive regular season starts. His best season was in 2004, when he led the Texans to seven victories, a franchise-best until they were 8-8 in the recently-concluded season. Carr had career-high totals of 285 completions on 466 attempts for 3,531 yards, 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions - despite being sacked 49 times.

At Fresno State, Carr started the last 26 games of his 37-game career and completed 587 of 934 passes for 7,849 yards, 70 touchdowns and just 23 interceptions. As a senior in 2001, he was the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and earned the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm (top senior passer), Sammy Baugh Passer of the Year (nation's top quarterback), Pop Warner (most outstanding player in the Western United States) and Football News Offensive Player of the Year awards.

Carr is married (Melody). They have three sons, Austin, Tyler and Cooper. Carr was born on July 21, 1979.