Gilroy
’s Jeff Garcia may not have been signed as the savior of the
Detroit Lions football team, or even as a guaranteed starter, but
that doesn’t mean the former Gilroy High, Gavilan and 49er
quarterback doesn’t feel responsible for helping return a
once-proud franchise to contention. Garcia, who si
gned with the Lions on March 15 and began training camp with his
new team this week, knows about the city of Detroit’s sports
tradition, most recently with the champion Pistons and Red Wings.
And, he knows the Lions haven’t contributed much to that tradition
in recent years.
Gilroy’s Jeff Garcia may not have been signed as the savior of the Detroit Lions football team, or even as a guaranteed starter, but that doesn’t mean the former Gilroy High, Gavilan and 49er quarterback doesn’t feel responsible for helping return a once-proud franchise to contention.
Garcia, who signed with the Lions on March 15 and began training camp with his new team this week, knows about the city of Detroit’s sports tradition, most recently with the champion Pistons and Red Wings. And, he knows the Lions haven’t contributed much to that tradition in recent years.
The Lions haven’t won a championship since 1957, well before National Football League title games were called “Super Bowls.” They haven’t won a playoff game since 1991. And they haven’t had a Pro Bowl passer since 1971, when Greg Landry was honored – the longest such drought at quarterback in the NFL.
Garcia doesn’t pretend that such a streak of mediocrity can be turned around in an instant. And as he has so often in his career, he comes into his new job with the deck stacked against him and numerous doubters ready to question his size, his arm strength, his age.
It’s a situation he accepts. It’s a situation he said he derives strength from.
“When everything is stacked up against me,” Garcia says, “it turns a switch on in myself. Here’s another situation, where I’m coming up against a guy who hasn’t necessarily done as much as I have done, but I’m with a coaching staff that knows me, has worked with me. That said, there’s a whole group of new teammates I need to prove myself to.”
That guy is fourth-year quarterback Joey Harrington, the starter for the time being. Three-time Pro Bowler Garcia was signed as a backup to the young signal-caller, who in 2004 threw more touchdowns than interceptions for the first time in his pro career.
But the Lions made it clear from the beginning that Garcia would at least have a chance to compete for the starting job. That, and the chance to be reunited with former 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci and several former members of the San Francisco coaching staff, was what made the Gilroy native pick Detroit over several other teams courting him in the offseason.
“I still want to be a Super Bowl … type quarterback,” Garcia says, pausing to make it clear that he knows the distinction between bravado and having ambitious goals.
“It’s one of those things where I came into Detroit somewhat knowing my role, not accepting it, but knowing I’m not going to be the starter from the get-go,” he says. “All I can do is push myself as hard as possible. I’m concerned about winning. If that means it forces Joey Harrington to become a better quarterback, that’s great. And if he’s not the guy doing it, then I’m going to be prepared to do it.
“Yes, I’m getting older. Yes, the number of years I have left is diminishing. But I feel I have lots of good football left in me.”
The difference between knowing his role theoretically, and having it driven home became clear to Garcia at the Lions’ minicamp in April.
“It was hard to swallow, not being the guy getting reps on the first team (at minicamp),” he says. “I’ve accepted my position, but it doesn’t change my mindset, to do everything I can do, to scratch and claw, but not to create a negative controversy.”
Back among friends
Whatever Garcia’s wishes, it seems a quarterback controversy in Detroit is inevitable. Lions watchers in Detroit are already calling on Mariucci to make Garcia the starter – in the papers, on the radio and on fan Web sites.
For the quarterback at the center of the storm, just being back with the coach who guided him to three Pro Bowls with the 49ers is reason enough to be happy after a disappointing year with the Cleveland Browns in 2004.
“It’s great,” says Garcia. “Not only having Coach Mariucci here, but having guys I’ve worked with in the past like Greg Olson as quarterback coach, Ted Tollner as offensive coordinator, (offensive line coach) Pat Morris, (running backs coach) Tom Rathman. They’re the type of people … the friendships carry over off the field, not just on the field.”
Garcia is also relieved to be back in the West Coast offensive schemes so suited to his talents.
When he signed with Cleveland after being released by San Francisco as part of a cost-cutting strategy, Garcia says he was “a guy that was looked at as being a savior” for the franchise. But while Garcia says he was assured by the Browns that they would modify their offense to suit his talents, offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie had a different plan.
The undersized quarterback was unable to utilize his athleticism and ability to make quick reads in Robiskie’s grind-it-out offense. Garcia complained in an earlier interview that the Browns’ clock management was so poor that it often caused delay-of-game penalties and hurried plays.
“It was an unfortunate situation,” Garcia says. “I went in with an open mind – I still think it’s a great organization – but unfortunately there were some problems with the coaching staff that carried over to the execution and preparation on the field.
“Every week was an uphill battle trying to get the attention of the offensive coordinator, trying to show him what I could bring to the table. It wasn’t just on the offensive side of the ball. There were things throughout the team. We lost a lot of close games that we could have won.
“I’m not bitter, I’m not mad. I’m disappointed. I was ready to make a four-year commitment to the organization.”
Contrasting that environment to the one he finds himself in now, Garcia says there’s no comparison.
“The whole team participated (in the recent minicamp),” he said. “Guys had fun, guys worked hard. A month prior to this minicamp, 90 percent of the guys made a commitment to be here in the offseason to work to make this team good. In many ways, I hope that this is my last stop. I want to make the most of this opportunity.”
Still dreaming
“I was back at my parents’ for Easter,” Garcia relates, “and we were going through some old pictures, and we found this autobiography that I had done from the fourth grade. And I was saying I was going to be a pro football player. Now that was just a dream, back in the fourth grade. But it showed that I had this drive, this pride to succeed.
“I think the main thing that I try to tell kids these days, is don’t ever sell yourselves short. If you really believe with your heart and your mind, there’s no limit to where you can go. As far as where I am in my life, yeah, it’s a very small percentage that makes it to this level. But that doesn’t mean everybody can’t be successful in their own way.”
Garcia has always felt strongly about his ties to the Gilroy community and given back to it generously, particularly to its young athletes. But this year he has actually stepped up that giving spirit. In February, Garcia donated $350,000 to Gilroy High toward its new stadium and track surface. The new facility will be named the Garcia-Elder Sports Complex in honor of both sides of Garcia’s family – carrying on the legacy of his father Bobby Garcia and his maternal grandfather Maurice “Red” Elder, both longtime coaches and educators in the community.
