| No. 53 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1946-08-19)August 19, 1946 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | February 19, 2018(2018-02-19) (aged 71) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 238 lb (108 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Phoenix (AZ) Union | ||||||||
| College: | UTEP | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1968:1st round, 5th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Freddie Alton Carr (August 19, 1946 – February 19, 2018) was an American professionalfootball player who playedlinebacker for theGreen Bay Packers of theNational Football League (NFL) from1968 to1977.[1]
Carr attendedPhoenix Union High School, where he also competed inbasketball and track, representing P.U.H.S. as adiscus thrower and in theshot put. He was in the top ten discus throwers in the U.S. in his senior year.[2] He played forPhoenix College before transferring to theUniversity of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 1965, where he was called "Probably the best overall linebacker in school history."[3] Fred was inducted into the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame, September 23, 2005, and would later also be elected to the Phoenix College (PCAA) Hall of Fame in their inaugural class of 2007.[4]
Carr was the fifth overall selection of the1968 NFL/AFL draft, taken by theGreen Bay Packers. The Packers got this draft slot in the previous year's trade withNew Orleans that sent longtime fullbackJim Taylor to the Saints. Some were surprised that the Packers, who already had a strong linebacking corps led by futurehall of famersRay Nitschke andDave Robinson, chose him. General ManagerVince Lombardi (who retired as coach immediately after the draft's conclusion), however, considered him to be the best player in the draft, and one who could play a variety of positions, including linebacker, tight end, strong safety, and defensive end.[5]
Carr's professional career spanned ten seasons, all with the Packers. His final season was1977; before the1978 season, the Packers, by this time coached by Carr's former teammate,Bart Starr, waived him as the result of a deep conflict over how Carr's injured knee should be treated. He settled his dispute with the Packers in1979 and signed with theSan Diego Chargers as a free agent, but never played for them.[6]
Carr recorded his lone NFL touchdown on November 7, 1976, intercepting aBobby Douglass pass in the third quarter and returning it 10 yards for a key score in the Packers' 32-27 victory vs. theNew Orleans Saints atMilwaukee.[7]
Carr had six children, and his nephewTerry Fair played in the NFL. Carr was named to theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1983.[8][9]Carr died on February 19, 2018, after suffering from dementia and prostate cancer, at the age of 71.[10]
Carr was the second inductee into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame from UTEP, followingJesse Whittenton, a defensive back on the Packers'1961 and1962 championship teams.