David Carr and Derek Carr pose in a promotion for the Educational Employees Credit Union.
Before Derek Carr was even a teenager, he would accompany David Carr, his older brother and Houston Texans quarterback, to the Texans facility.
David would break down the film with Derek, explaining how a quarterback manages the play along the line of scrimmage. He taught him how to spot different shots and the reasoning behind certain defensive calls.
“The 12-year age difference made me almost like a mentor,” David said.
That mentorship has gone from the football field, where Derek became a four-time Pro Bowler and 11-year starter, to the business world.
With 33-year-old Derek busy and focused on defending the New Orleans Saints, 45-year-old David sometimes takes a first look at a business deal, doing research and even meeting potential business partners for lunch.
David warned Derek that making $1,000 on every investment is impossible and preached the importance of investing in people rather than products while also following your passion. Derek took this last lesson to heart when he became an equity partner at OOFOS.
“People will come to us all the time for certain opportunities, and I just can’t do that,” Derek said exclusively. “When I’m an ambassador or I have a deal or even invest in something, I’ll only do it if I believe in it.”
Advice also goes both ways – from older brother to younger and vice versa.
David was initially concerned about approving Table Mountain Casino, but Derek, who is a spokesperson for MGM Gaming and played in Las Vegas from 2020 to 2022, appreciated it because the casino has roots in the community and supports Fresno State and Valley Children’s Health Care.
In addition to his work with Table Mountain Casino, David is a spokesperson for a homebuilder called Bonadelle Neighborhoods, The Iron Office Gym, The Good Feet Store and Motor City car dealerships. An NFL Network analyst since 2016, he also appears in regular segments on iHeart Radio and ABC30 News in Fresno.
Derek’s OOFOS investment
Choice no. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, David played five of his 10-year NFL career for the expansion Texans before retiring in 2013.
Three years later, Derek was leading the Raiders to a 12-win season before breaking his fibula in Week 16 of the 2016 NFL season.
He began wearing OOFOS shoes as part of the recovery process.
“Immediately, my anxiety went from 10 out of 10 to one out of 10,” Derek said. “I was like, ‘this is crazy.'”
Derek Carr wears OOFOS, which is the shoe brand he invested in.
Known for its foam technology, OOFOS sports slides, sandals and close-toed shoes are designed for post-sport recovery. They are also favored by teachers, nurses, chefs and others who are on their feet all day.
Derek liked the shoes so much that he had his business team contact Darren Brown, head of marketing for OOFOS.
After one of the early founders of OOFOS sold some of their shares, it opened up a rare opportunity and Derek invested in the company in March of 2023.
“The rest is history,” Derek said. “Now we have a great partnership.”
Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith, whose broken right leg required 17 surgeries, and current South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley also took advantage of the investment opportunity while Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman and Dancing with the starsEmma Slater is the spokesperson for OOFOS.
Brothers working together
Derek was around sports stars from a young age.
When Derek came with David to the Texans’ facility, the 12-year-old had to throw away the passports of future Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson and went to almost every offseason practice.
Now instead of being on the Texans field together, David and Derek are co-spokespeople for several businesses in the Central Valley of California: Educational Employees Credit Union (EECU) and Valley Children’s Healthcare.
“What’s been fun about it is that we’ve been able to do it together,” David said. “We can bounce ideas off each other.”
David and Derek Carr film a commercial for the Educational Employees Credit Union.
Derek, who does commercials and appearances for EECU, has a very personal connection to Valley Children’s.
Derek’s oldest son, Dallas, was rushed into emergency surgery at Valley Children’s Healthcare in 2013 for intestinal malrotation, a potentially life-threatening condition that affected his blood supply and intestinal tract and spent several weeks there.
The Carrs even helped broker a deal between Valley Children’s Healthcare and Fresno State, the university they both attended, in 2022. As a result of that deal, Valley Children’s offers $1 million a year to get the naming rights to Bulldog Stadium, and those funds go to operations, scholarships and youth programs at Fresno State.
The brothers even share the same business management team.
“Carla (Cossy) and I are most fortunate to be associated with the Carr brothers,” said H Koal, the Carrs’ business partner. “They have a unique ability to put everyone at ease and make every person – with whom they interact – feel comfortable and valued.”
Video Entrepreneurship
One of the Carrs’ newest entrepreneurial pursuits is working as a creative associate with Moonracer Films, a video production company in Sacramento, California that makes documentaries, social media videos and commercials.
Moonracer produced The breaking of breada three-episode series exploring fine dining in Sacramento by featuring about a dozen chefs talking about their craft.
The Carrs are offering ideas for future quotes and foods to feature.
“David and Derek are just different. They are creative. They are humble. They are polite. They are also incredibly business savvy,” Matthew Kolbert, president of Moonracer Films. “They’re also just great storytellers.”
The Carrs are also investors/executive producers on Moonracer’s two-hour documentary about the trading card/reckoning industry pre-titled The billion dollar hobby.
Considering the Carr brothers both work with some of the same companies, are both former Fresno State quarterbacks, and both have first names that start with D, it’s no surprise that fans often mistake David and Derek for the other.
When he goes somewhere with his family, David often plays a game, guessing how many times he will be called Derek vs. David.
“It’s usually about 50/50,” said David, who jokingly blamed his parents for the confusion. “It happens so much.”