The best thing about football isn't winning every game, or winning National Championships, or going pro and making so much money. Some might call me crazy for saying that, but one of the best thing about football and sports in general are the stories it brings to the world.
Notre Dame's quarterback CJ Carr has been so great for the Fighting Irish this season on the field. He has really come into his own as the starter and proved why he was the best choice. However, it is the story of what makes Carr tick, what gets him out of bed in the morning, that makes him that much more special.
Carr has been through a lot in his young life so far, and after nearly 10 years after a major life event happened, he is finally coming out and telling his story, but more importantly, telling the story of his little brother, Chad Carr.
CJ Carr's story about his brother is so inspiring it will make anyone cry
If you read one thing today make it Notre Dame QB CJ Carr’s touching @PlayersTribune tribute on his late brother, Chad, who passed away from brain cancer at 5: https://t.co/cAiEPQfPFb
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) November 20, 2025
And consider donating to the @chadtough Defeat DIPG Foundation: https://t.co/RTvrpJOFTj pic.twitter.com/dq75C0RFeC
When Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr was 10 years old, he lost his little brother Chad, who was five at the time, to an inoperable brain tumor. Now, it has been 10 years since the Carr family lost Chad, and CJ has come out now to speak about it, not because he wants people to feel sorry for him, but because he wants people to know where he gets his drive from.
Carr spoke about many things when it came to his late brother, his personality, his smile, but his favorite thing about Chad was his laugh and how no matter what he was going through, he was not only laughing himself, but making everyone laugh around him.
Chad was three years old when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and, unfortunately, lost his battle with the disease 14 months later. Of course, for Carr and his other younger brother Tommy, this was a huge shock to their family, but Chad's diagnosis and later death did something for the Carr family that still holds strong today.
The diagnosis and death of Chad really brought the Carr family together and made them even stronger and closer than they had ever been before. Carr even spoke about how Chad was the very reason he chose Notre Dame.
Carr comes from a long line of football players in his family, but not just any football players, Michigan football players who were all very successful with the Wolverines. However, even though he wasn't as into sports as his older brothers, Chad would also try to get under his family's skin on Saturdays and cheer for the opposing team just to get a rise and a laugh out of everyone.
So when CJ was deciding where to go to college, he chose Notre Dame because it was against the grain and it would have been exactly what Chad would have loved. CJ pushes himself so hard every single day and does it for his little brother Chad, knowing that if his brother could do the toughest thing of battling a brain tumor, he can battle on the football field.
You can read the entire story of CJ Carr, his little brother Chad, and the entire Carr family in CJ's story on The Players' Tribune. The Carr family also has a foundation in Chad's name to fight against DIPG/DMG called ChadTough.