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| Birth Name(s) : Jeff Garcia |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Full Jeff Garcia Biography
CFL
- 1996 West Division All-Star
- 1997 West Division All-Star
- 1997 West Division Most Outstanding Player
- 1998 Grey Cup MVP
- 1998 CFL All-Star
Garcia was a standout quarterback while attending San Jose State. He started his professional career in Calgary with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He won a place on Calgary's roster as their third string quarterback behind Doug Flutie and Steve Taylor when he threw two fourth quarter touchdowns in his exhibition game appearance in 1994. Soon he was named backup to Doug Flutie. In 1995, Flutie went down midway through the season with an elbow injury and Garcia took over as starter. In his second start filling in for Flutie, Garcia set a team record with 546 passing yards and 6 touchdown passes in the Labour Day game against Edmonton touching off an eventual quarterback controversy among some fans when Flutie later returned. Flutie ended up starting over Garcia in the Grey Cup that year which the Stampeders lost. After Flutie signed as a free-agent with the Toronto Argonauts in 1996, Garcia took over as the Stampeders' starting quarterback. During Garcia's three years as starter, the Stampeders finished with records of 13-5, 10-8, and 12-6 .
In 1997, Garcia won the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy, an award given to the Most Outstanding Player in the CFL Western Division. Garcia led the Stampeders to the Western Final in 1996 and to the Western Semi-Final in 1997. In 1998, he led the team to a Grey Cup victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and was named Grey Cup MVP. Garcia's memorable performance included an 80-yard, game-ending drive to set up the game winning field goal on the last play of the game . Garcia was also named as the 1998 CFL All-Star at quarterback.
The following season, with Young retired, Garcia kept the starting quarterback position and made his first Pro Bowl appearance. He set a new 49ers' team record with 4,278 passing yards in the 2000 season, although the team finished with a 6-10 record. In both of the next two seasons, Garcia led the 49ers to the playoffs.
Following a disappointing 2003 season, in which Garcia was hampered by back problems, the 3-time Pro Bowler was released by the 49ers due to salary cap issues. Garcia also had a falling out with wide receiver Terrell Owens, who blamed Garcia's lack of arm strength for holding Owens back.
The exiled Garcia signed a contract with the Cleveland Browns on March 9, 2004. In the summer of 2004, Owens, a former 49ers teammate, gave an interview for Playboy magazine where he implied that Garcia was homosexual, stating "if it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, then by golly it's a rat."
Garcia was released by the Browns after the 2004 season, in which he struggled to find any consistency.
He was signed by the Detroit Lions to a one-year contract on March 12, 2005, to play for his former San Francisco head coach, Steve Mariucci, but Garcia broke his fibula in the fourth preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on September 2, 2005. He started his first regular season game as quarterback for the Lions on October 23, 2005 against his former teammates, the Browns. Garcia led the Lions to a 13-10 victory completing 22 of his 34 pass attempts for 210 yards, with one touchdown and zero interceptions.
After the win, Mariucci named Garcia the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season, over Joey Harrington - the longtime Detroit starter. Garcia struggled later in the season and Harrington returned as the starter. Following the season, the Lions did not offer Garcia a new contract.
During a Monday Night Game against the Carolina Panthers on December 4, 2006, the Philadelphia fans booed officials for missing a late hit, once it was shown on the jumbo screen. Much of the media mistakenly reported fans booed Garcia while down on his back in favor of Feeley playing. However, Garcia's surprisingly good play never gave the Philadelphia fans a reason to boo for. Running a "West Coast offense" that he was accustomed to from San Francisco, he led the Eagles to wins in five of his six starts, bringing the team from dead to division champions.
The rejuvenated Garcia threw 10 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions, while posting a QB rating of 95.8 in eight total games played. He also made the front cover of Sports Illustrated (on the January 8, 2007 issue) following his five-game winning streak. On January 7, 2007, Garcia earned only his second ever playoff win, throwing for 153 yards and one touchdown in a 23-20 victory over the Giants. On January 13, 2007 Garcia and the Eagles lost to the New Orleans Saints by a score of 27-24, ending Garcia's magical run. He threw for 240 yards and a touchdown - a 75-yard touchdown pass to Donte Stallworth - the longest in Eagles' postseason history.
Though he stated that he enjoyed his time playing in Philadelphia, the Eagles decided not to offer Garcia a new contract after the season. The Eagles opted to instead sign the younger A.J. Feeley to a three-year deal.
After his run with the Eagles, Garcia signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on March 3, 2007, to compete for their starting position. As of the start of the 2007 regular season, Garcia is currently the Bucs' starting quarterback and has the third highest quarterback rating in the National Football League. |
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