Posted by MostWantedSpartan on 9/8/2007, 11:04 pm, in reply to "Jeff Garcia the starting QB in Tampa" --Previous Message--
76.21.43.136
I played Pop Warner fb a year behind Jeff in Gilroy and I went to school with Jeff at Gilroy High, I remember him being a really descent guy. Everybody loved him, and he did not let it go to his head. He said hi to me a few times, (I was a soph. shrimp in High School) and he was the JV stud QB surrounded by jerks that would not give me the time of day but he did not care.. He is most deserving of a successfull career, I wish him all the best and feel blessed to have been around him that short time period.
: Garcia tosses in new approach for Bucs
: The veteran will be the 8th different QB to
: lead the Bucs since Jon Gruden took over
:
: Chris Harry
: Orlando Sentinel
: September 4, 2007
:
: TAMPA
:
: Bombarded for weeks with questions about his
: fourth-string quarterback, Tampa Bay Coach
: Jon Gruden figured the first official day of
: the NFL's 2007 regular season was a good
: time to change the subject.
:
: "I'm ready to talk about the starting
: quarterback, for crying out loud,"
: Gruden said. "We never talk about
: him."
:
: OK, let's.
:
: When the Buccaneers open the season Sunday
: against the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field,
: they'll do so with a 37-year-old quarterback
: playing with his fifth team in five seasons.
:
: Jeff Garcia, though, looms as the difference
: between a competitive season and a repeat
: disaster like 2006. His knowledge of the
: West Coast offense, ability to keep plays
: alive with his feet and fierce
: competitiveness are a perfect fit for what
: Gruden, whose teams have posted three losing
: seasons in the past four, wants to do with
: his offense.
:
: It's about time. Since arriving in Tampa in
: 2002, Gruden has started seven different
: quarterbacks. Only Miami and Chicago have
: started more.
:
: Gruden thinks No. 8 could be great. He's not
: the only one.
:
: "He's a fiery guy who already commands
: a presence in the huddle," 11-year
: veteran wide receiver Ike Hilliard said.
: "I can't wait to play with him on
: Sundays for real and see his character and
: passion take over. He's a fighter. He
: doesn't take things laying down . . . and I
: think we need that around here."
:
: Though the second-oldest starting
: quarterback in the NFL -- Brett Favre has
: five months on him -- Garcia still can do
: everything he did while making three Pro
: Bowls in San Francisco earlier this decade.
: He was terrific in taking over after a
: season-ending knee injury to Donovan McNabb
: and guiding the Eagles to five straight
: victories and a NFC East Division title. If
: the Bucs get that Garcia, things could be
: interesting.
:
: But if a young and untested offensive line
: can't protect the veteran -- like they were
: unable to do for Garcia in Detroit and
: Cleveland the two preceding seasons -- then
: the alternatives are as follows:
: Luke McCown, who hasn't thrown a
: regular-season pass since Dec. 26, 2004.
:
: Bruce Gradkowski, who when pressed into
: rookie duty last season ranked next to last
: in passer rating for one of the league's
: worst offenses.
:
: Chris Simms, who Gruden would just as soon
: go away.
:
: Any of those options will immediate have
: Bucs fans previewing the 2008 draft; and
: Gruden's job in serious jeopardy.
:
: "I'm ready to go,'' said Garcia, who
: signed a two-year, $15 million contract last
: March. "There's some great things going
: on around here."
:
: Ask around One Buc Place. A lot of those
: great things begin under center.
:
: "He's had so much experience with his
: decisions that they're just very
: sound," Bucs quarterbacks coach Paul
: Hackett said. "There are no wild
: decisions or hair-brain thinking going on.
: He's been through that. He had it Canada.
: He's had his times to do that and that's
: just not what he's about now."
:
: Garcia's track record for decision-making is
: stellar. His 136 career touchdowns versus 73
: interceptions place him sixth all-time in
: TD-to-INT ratio among quarterbacks with at
: least 1,500 attempts. The only players
: better are Steve Young, McNabb, Peyton
: Manning, Joe Montana and Tom Brady.
:
: Garcia's career INT percentage (2.46) is
: fourth all-time.
:
: After win-loss records, coaches point to
: turnovers as the most defining statistic for
: a QB.
:
: "You can't turn it over, can't put your
: defense in difficult spots," Hackett
: said. "You can have nice statistics,
: but you can't win that way."
:
: Hackett used last week's exhibition game
: against Houston as an example. McCown
: completed 75 percent of his passes and threw
: three touchdowns but also had a fumble that
: was returned for a touchdown and
: interception that set up another.
:
: In 11 starts last season, Gradkowski had 14
: turnovers while completing only 54 percent
: of his passes for an offense that averaged
: 11 points and won three games under his
: direction.
:
: In '06, Garcia hit nearly 62 percent of his
: passes for 10 touchdowns, just two
: interceptions and lost no fumbles. His play,
: preparation and moxie inspired a team that
: could have mailed in the season at 5-5 and
: McNabb done for the year.
:
: "Charisma has to show up on Wednesdays
: and Thursdays and in the meeting room in
: Week 8, 12 and 13 when the day or the season
: is maybe lagging," Gruden said.
: "This is a barbed-wire kind of guy you
: can strike a match on and get you going.
: Everyone in football wants a quarterback
: like that."
:
: In Philadelphia, Garcia had good weapons and
: nice defense to lean on. The Bucs believe
: that tailback Carnell "Cadillac"
: Williams, a receiving corps anchored by
: speedy vet Joey Galloway and a rebuilt
: offensive front can give Garcia a chance to
: do this thing, move the chains and allow an
: aging defense to rest.
:
: Gruden will not try to rein in a player who
: has survived -- and often excelled -- on
: instincts and improvisation.
:
: "You have to let him do what he does,
: which means handing the ball off every play
: is not a good way to accentuate Jeff
: Garcia's strengths," Gruden said.
: "He's a [expletive] with the ball his
: hands. That's when he's really good."
:
: And worth talking about.
:
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