The Carr family name is synonymous with football.
Former Saline star quarterback CJ Carr is in his first season as the starter at Notre Dame and has the 9-2 Irish competing for a College Football Playoff spot as the ninth-ranked team in the country.
His brother, Tommy Carr, just completed his senior season at Saline and committed to Michigan on Sunday to play for his dream school. Both brothers bled maize and blue growing up. Their parents, Jason and Tammi Carr, both attended Michigan. Jason was a quarterback for the Wolverines, while his father, Lloyd Carr, was the head coach for 13 seasons. Tammi’s father, Tom Curtis, was an All-American safety for the Wolverines.
Naturally, Michigan football games were appointment viewing in the Carr household. Not everyone was cheering for the Wolverines, though. CJ and Tommy’s little brother, Chad, would always root for the opposing team.
It has been 10 years since Chad passed at age 5 following a 14-month battle with pediatric brain cancer. To honor Chad on the 10-year anniversary of his death, CJ penned a heartfelt letter in The Player’s Tribune this week, highlighting his favorite memories of his late brother.
“He absolutely loved to troll us and cheer for literally anyone BUT Michigan,” CJ wrote, describing Saturday afternoons in the fall. “He just loved getting under our skin. Mind you, again … he’s 3 at that point.
“But it was all about getting a rise out of us. He enjoyed that so much. He thought it was the funniest thing in the world.”
The Carr family, from left, CJ, 9, Chad, 4, Tommy, 7, parents Jason and Tammi pose for a picture next to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Fl., on Nov. 19, 2014. Patrick Record | The Ann Arbor News ANN ARBOR NEWSANN ARBOR NEWS
Unlike CJ and Tommy, Chad wasn’t sports-crazed as a kid, but he was always making his older brothers laugh.
“He was a different cat,” CJ wrote. “He wanted to search for bugs in the woods near our house, or catch fireflies with our grandma, or turn up the music real loud and dance his little dances to “Moves Like Jagger.”
“He loved playing little pranks on all of us. He’d pick up some big beetle or a worm from under a rock and then chase me around with it just to make me scream. He loved to joke around with everyone, loved to laugh. And his laugh had this magical power to make everyone around him laugh, so … he worked it.”
After Chad’s diagnosis, the family decided to get a mini-labradoodle so he could always have a companion by his side. CJ said Chad was obsessed with potty humor, and when they brought the puppy home for the first time, he pooped on the carpet.
Chad instantly knew what he wanted to name the puppy: “Tootie.”
“Tootie would always be by Chad’s side, indoors or out,” CJ wrote. “And, thinking back now, it was almost like that dog knew that doing his business on our carpets was the one thing that brought his little buddy the most joy in life. Because he did it all … the … time.
“Chad was always right there to relish in the moment, too. You’d be going about your day, and all of a sudden, you’d hear Chad cracking up and yelling from downstairs….
“Guys! Guys!! GUYS!!! Tootie pooped in the basement!!!!!!!!!!!”
During CJ’s recruiting process, Michigan was among his top schools, but he ended up choosing Notre Dame. The decision came as a surprise to many among the Michigan fanbase given the family’s ties to the university, but CJ was determined to chart his own path. He knows no one would appreciate that more than Chad.
“I never really gave it much thought at the time, but I do think that one big thing Chad taught us all was about doing the unexpected, and not being predictable, and trying new things,” CJ wrote. “He always had the courage to not just go along with the plan. And while I wasn’t thinking about that when I chose Notre Dame — I just loved the school and the program — when you look at the totality of his life, he’s a good representation of not being afraid to go against the grain. So maybe he kind of took some of that light and put it into Tommy and me, to where we can do something different, or don’t have to always do what our parents or our parents’ parents did. Who knows, right? But maybe.”
After Chad’s passing, the Carr family created the ChadTough Defeat DIPG Foundation to honor him and to raise funds for research and help families with loved ones battling the deadly disease.
CJ is having a strong redshirt freshman season for the Irish and ranks 15th in the country with 21 passing touchdowns in 2025. Chad continues to be a source of motivation for him every day.
“I think about him all the time, and at the end of the day, he is a huge source of inspiration for me,” CJ wrote. “For him to go through that tough time, and all that pain, and still keep a smile on his face and keep that positive attitude? I can’t explain to you how much that drives me to push through any challenges that I might face. I mean, let’s be real, if Chad could go through chemo and, eventually, not being able to move his left arm and leg at all, and still be cracking jokes and keeping everyone’s spirits up … I can absolutely choose to do hard things. After watching him be so tough, my context of what is truly hard is very different.”
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