Bakersfield-born David Carr spends a lot of time on the road.

From his recurring segment on the NFL Network to his coaching job at Bakersfield Christian High School — and more assignments in between — the quarterback-turned-analyst finds himself regularly driving back and forth over the Grapevine from work in L.A. to home in Bakersfield. But soon, he’ll be calling Fresno his permanent home.

His personal and business relationships in the Valley long have connected him with Valley Children’s Hospital and Educational Employees Credit Union. Now they have broadened to include Groppetti Automotive and Table Mountain Casino. Carr also has a recurring spot on ABC 30 and on iHeartMedia.

He has split his time in recent years between Bakersfield and Los Angeles. But with his three sons either going to Fresno State or wanting to go there, Carr hopes to become a regular presence on the field during practice, as his dad was.

With Carr’s son, Tyler, playing Fresno State football starting next fall, and Carr’s multitude of business ventures drawing him farther north, he said the decision to move to Fresno was an easy one for him and his wife, Melody.

“Doing stuff with Table Mountain and Groppetti, I mean all of it is kind of north of Bakersfield,” Carr said. “So, I think that was one of the main reasons Melody was OK with it is because our children are going to be up there, and she doesn’t want to miss out on a grandson or granddaughter.”

Carr Hopes to Be a Bigger Presence at Fresno State

Carr said his children haven’t shown the desire, like so many teenagers, to get away from their parents and be out on their own.

“We like to spend time together and enjoy each other’s company, and for whatever reason, my kids aren’t tired of me yet,” Carr said.

He never pointed his children toward Fresno State, he says, but now they all want to go there. Considering their memories of growing up in the area, it was “natural” for them to want to do so.

Both Carr and his brother Derek played football for Fresno State. Starting next year, so will his eldest son.

Carr wants to be a regular presence at practice, like his father was when he played college football in the early 2000s, offering help if the team wants it. Carr said he isn’t ready yet to try for a college coaching career.

“If those guys are open to some information from an old quarterback that could maybe help them, great, not that they need it,” Carr said. “But if they could entertain me and let me talk to them for a little bit, that’d be kind of cool.”

Carr Supports Measure E

Carr also appeared in a video supporting Measure E, a proposed sales tax that would fund maintenance, new academic buildings, and a stadium revision at Fresno State.

Carr said he can’t pretend to know everybody’s financial situation, but the .25% sales tax makes sense to him. He said building new facilities would be a draw and also help retain talent in the Central Valley.

“It shouldn’t just be, you know, one person or a group of 10 people that try to figure this out,” Carr said. “I feel like if the community wants to come alongside and do something together and everyone is able to vote on it and it makes sense to them, then boom, let’s do it,” Carr said.

Expanded Business Enterprise in Fresno a Draw

Carr was a first-round draft pick for the Houston Texans in 2002. After five years with the Texans, he played for the Carolina Panthers, the New York Giants, and the San Francisco 49ers.

In 2011, he earned a Super Bowl ring as a backup quarterback for Eli Manning and the Giants when they defeated the New England Patriots.

After Carr’s football career ended in 2013, he was not sure what he wanted to do next. He took a year off, helping his kids with their own sports endeavors.

But that indecision changed after a former teammate invited him to do a one-off spot on a TV show, talking about football. He liked it but didn’t want to have to fly to the East Coast regularly. Shortly after, the NFL Network in Los Angeles had an opening, and he jumped on the opportunity.

His personal relationships turned into networking opportunities, resulting in spots with EECU, and a decade-long relationship with Valley Children’s Hospital.

Three of Carr’s children have been patients at the hospital.

“Over the last decade, David — alongside his brother Derek and their families — has been a pillar of support for Valley Children’s,” said Valley Children’s CEO Todd Suntrapak. “He is remarkably generous with his time and talent, always ready to uplift patents, staff, and our entire organization through his community efforts.”

The marketing company he operates with Derek helped broker the $10 million deal for the hospital to purchase the naming rights of former Bulldog Stadium at Fresno State, now Valley Children’s Stadium.

He talks football for both ABC 30 and iHeartMedia. More recently, his relationships connected him with Table Mountain Casino, Iron Office Gym, and Groppetti Automotive.

“My wife gives me a hard time all the time because I can never focus on one thing,” Carr said. “But I just think I’m interested in so many different things.”

Cars May Be in Carr’s Future

Carr’s father sold cars at dealerships in Bakersfield and Fresno, so he grew up knowing the world of auto sales. He has an ongoing “old school handshake deal” with Motor City Auto Center in Bakersfield, but he’s hesitant to leap in just yet.

He described the deal as anything “from the top to as little as we wanted to do.”

Considering the financial and time investment required to operate a dealership, he wants to make sure he can dedicate himself to the venture.

“A car dealership, there’s so many employees that are involved there, there’s so many different people, and especially if our name is on the building, you know, that would be something that I would really have to pray about, really think about,” Carr said.

Carr Knows Football from High School to the NFL

Carr’s experience at all levels of football, from high school to college to the pros, gives him the ability to break the game down to everyone from the fifth-grader playing flag football to the seasoned fan or even player, he says.

“That’s always my goal when I’m on TV or I’m doing radio or local TV, is to explain things to where people who just casually watch the game can understand it, but then it’s also nuanced enough to where even the seasoned fan and even a player can get something out of it,” Carr said.

The move to Fresno means Carr will have to step back from his job as an offensive coordinator with Bakersfield Christian’s football program. For the past few years, he’s been working with two staff members — one of them his cousin Mike — to fill the gap after he leaves.

Carr said he’s noticed a commonality among people in the Central Valley.

“There’s a work ethic and there’s a different mindset that you see when you’re in the Central Valley and I think that carries over into the kids,” he said.

So much of his current career is dependent on personal relationships, Carr said. He tries to find businesses and organizations that have the same passion for the community he does.

“I want to just, kind of, make that bigger,” Carr said. “And make it to where the people we do business with or have relationships with, we’re all pointed towards the same goal, we have the same vision for community and for the Valley.”

Carr appears on NFL Network on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Carr’s segment on iHeartMedia airs on Thursdays at 3 p.m.

Carr’s next appearance on ABC 30 will be Thursday during the 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. time slot.