Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr issued a retort to NFL reporter Dov Kleiman after the latter appeared to make an inference regarding Carr's Instagram Story.
Carr posted on his Story of a camouflage weight vest with an American flag on the front. Kleiman, in turn, appeared to suggest the Raiders passer was making a partisan statement on Inauguration Day.
But Carr shot back. The Raiders' 36th overall pick back in 2014 asked Kleiman to explain the implication, also clarifying the post was meant to signal the beginning of his offseason training:
“What's your point and what are you trying to imply?” Carr tweeted in response to Kleiman. “It's a workout weight vest because it's the real start of my off season training. I said “it's that time again” While standing in the weight room in my house. So if you are telling people I'm already back to work thank you.”
Kleiman responded in turn, suggesting he never meant to suggest anything. Given the nature of the original tweet and context, however, it appears pretty evident Kleiman was making an implicit link between the inauguration of Joe Biden and the attacks on the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the certification of Biden's presidential election victory. Regardless of the Raiders quarterback's intentions, it made a stir with the inconvenient timing of the post.
It could be argued Carr should have done a better job of “reading the room,” per se, but it was also a tremendously presumptuous move on Kleiman's part.
The Raiders quarterback appears to be getting after it early in the offseason. Carr posted a career-high 71.2 total QBR mark in 2020 but will hope individual success also leads to more team success in 2021.