Jeff Garcia: The Incredible Underdog the NFL Forgot! (Part 3)

All that hard work and believing in himself was why Jeff Garcia went from JUCO to FCS to the CFL. He made it to the promised land, the NFL. I am sure that would be enough, but he would make more than one childhood dream come true. He would play for his childhood team, the San Francisco 49ers. He backed up future HOFer and the very man who led the 49ers to a Super Bowl win while Jeff Garcia was freezing his butt off as a backup in Canada, Steve Young.

Garcia Was Never Supposed To Play In 1999

That soon changed when tragedy struck again. Early in 1999, Young was hit by Arizona Cardinals CB Aeneas Williams. He suffered his final professional concussion and was knocked out for the year. It gave him the stage to do battle with another Cali-born QB, ex-Stanford Cardinal Steve Stenstrom. Garcia quickly proved he was the superior player. He won his first career start against the Super Bowl-bound Titans 24-22. After poor performances, it looked like all the hard work was about to be wasted when he was benched a few games after that win.

But after those woes, he was given a second chance after Stenstrom failed to impress with the opportunity. Garcia, knowing this was his last opportunity and not wanting to let himself or his dad down, took all that he learned and used it to make sure he succeeded. He finished his rookie season with 8 passing touchdowns and 2 interceptions to earn the honor of being Young’s successor. An honor that also placed much pressure on the Cali man and would be something he struggled with his whole time with the team.

Garcia Succeeded In 2000

He shattered team records and broke the single-season passing yards record with 4,278. He opened the season looking like an MVP. After 7 games, he had 19 touchdown passes, including three games of 4 touchdown passes. “I think everything that I’ve been a part of or able to obtain … over the past couple of seasons with the 49ers has been incredible,” Garcia said. “It was a situation I had to take advantage of.” He proved those weren’t empty words by being selected for his first-ever Pro Bowl in his first full season

2001 Would Prove To Be Even More Important

He topped his 31 passing touchdowns from 2000 with 32 the next season. He added 3,538 passing yards to go along with 5 rushing touchdowns, but these weren’t empty stats either. At this time, he used the leadership skills learned from all the hard work, tragedy, and triumph in his life to lead the Niners back to the playoffs. He had an impressive 12-4 record to go along with it.

However, he was about to slam into another disappointment as he lost his first playoff game to the Green Bay Packers 25-15, watching with gritted teeth as the team’s rival went to the Super Bowl with “The Greatest Show on Turf” being led by their own underdog QB, Kurt Warner.

Thanks a bunch for reading. Stay tuned for the next part of the Jeff Garcia story!