Raiders receiver says new coach ‘allowed us to be ourselves’
Free agent wide receiver DeAndre Carter said he would love to return to the Raiders and play for coach Antonio Pierce.
The team has a new general manager in Tom Telesco, but Carter is familiar with him after playing for the Chargers in 2022.
“I got a good relationship with Tom Telesco when he was the general manager of the Chargers,” Carter told the Review-Journal during an appearance on radio row Wednesday at Mandalay Bay Convention Center. “Of course, I love AP. I stood up for him just like everybody else did.”
Carter said Pierce changed the Raiders culture. He and his teammates wanted to do “our part” to ensure Pierce got the job.
“(Pierce) came in and allowed us to be ourselves and let our personality show,” Carter said. “As a player, when you get trusted with that type of responsibility, you want to make sure you do your part, you know, not to abuse that trust.”
Carter was on radio row as an ambassador with Beyond Type 1, a nonprofit organization started by Nick Jonas to spread awareness about diabetes.
“Why I wanted to join this initiative was to let people and kids know for the most part that as long as you stay on top of it, as long as you manage it well, there’s nothing that you can do,” said Carter, who is a Type 1 diabetic. “You can still go and achieve whatever dreams and goals that you have.”
Carter talked more about last season, the Raiders, his Type 1 diabetes and more in the above video.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
