“We want Carr! We want Carr!”
That was the backdrop to Jim Harbaugh’s arrival with the 49ers in 2011. Harbaugh was a former quarterback, had an eye for quarterbacks, and if one thing was certain, it was that the squad he took over that year needed a new starting quarterback.
Incumbent Alex Smith not only was scheduled to become a free agent in a couple of months, the former No. 1 overall pick had underwhelmed to the point that frustrated fans preferred his backup, David Carr, and famously chanted Carr’s name during a nationally televised game in 2010.