Freddie Alton Carr (August 19, 1946 – February 19, 2018) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) from 1968 to

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

. Carr attended Phoenix Union High School, where he also competed in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and track, representing P.U.H.S. as a

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

er and in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

. He was in the top ten discus throwers in the U.S. in his senior year. He played for Phoenix College before transferring to the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

(UTEP) in 1965, where he was called "Probably the best overall linebacker in school history." 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.

Green Bay Packers

Carr was the fifth overall selection of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft, taken by the

. The Packers got this draft slot in the previous year's trade with

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

that sent longtime fullback Jim Taylor to the Saints. Some were surprised that the Packers, who already had a strong linebacking corps led by future hall of famers Ray Nitschke and Dave Robinson, chose him. General Manager Vince 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. Carr's professional career spanned ten seasons, all with the Packers. His final season was

; before the 1978 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 in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and signed with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

as a free agent, but never played for them. Carr recorded his lone NFL touchdown on November 7, 1976, intercepting a Bobby Douglass pass in the third quarter and returning it 10 yards for a key score in the Packers' 32-27 victory vs. the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Post-NFL life

Carr had six children, and his nephew Terry Fair played in the NFL. Carr was named to the

Hall of Fame in 1983. Carr died on February 19, 2018, after suffering from dementia and prostate cancer, at the age of 71. Carr was the second inductee into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame from UTEP, following Jesse Whittenton, a defensive back on the Packers' 1961 and

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

championship teams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Fred 1946 births 2018 deaths American football linebackers Green Bay Packers players UTEP Miners football players UTEP Miners men's basketball players National Conference Pro Bowl players Phoenix Bears football players Basketball players from Phoenix, Arizona Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona Deaths from dementia in Arizona Deaths from prostate cancer in Arizona American men's basketball players Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame 20th-century American sportsmen