Jeff Garcia: The Incredible Underdog the NFL Forgot! (Part 6)

The Browns decided not to draft the likes of Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger, instead putting their faith in Jeff Garcia, the multi-time Pro Bowler. But if you know about the Browns and QBs, you know this would be futile, as the Browns are where QBs go to have their careers killed.

Garcia’s Struggles With a New Team

Garcia had a better season than most have had with the team since then, but it was well below the standards he worked himself up to while in the Bay. Struggling with injuries, he failed to find a rhythm and was even bitterly disappointed himself against the Cowboys. Garcia completed 8-of-27 passes for 71 yards and 3 interceptions in a 19–12 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, resulting in a career-low passer rating of 0.

Garcia also struggled against the system, with the Browns wanting a pocket passer while he was more of the mobile gunslinging type. Former teammate Terrell Owens was also determined to make his life worse, even when they were separated by state lines and locker rooms. When T.O. was asked in an interview with Playboy magazine if Jeff Garcia was gay, Owens didn’t deny or question why they were even asking that. Instead, he responded, “If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat.” Again, Jeff Garcia isn’t the type to take stupidity lying down, so he responded bluntly.

“It is really a waste of my time to sit here and to have to answer to such ridiculous, untrue comments that are made out there in the world today,” Garcia said. He even pointed out that it has been reported that he had a girlfriend and had girlfriends in the past. “So many people know my situation here. It has never been a secret,” Garcia said.

To make Owens look worse, Playboy then asked him what he would do if an NFL player admitted he was gay: “I probably wouldn’t say anything right off the bat,” Owens said in the interview. “I’d just see what everyone else has to say. I’d probably keep my distance, and hopefully, he would keep his. If it was a guy who was helping us win ball games, hey, I’d have no problem with it. He can do what he wants to do outside of my everyday life.”

The Quarterback’s 2004 Season

Garcia’s 2004 season did have its highlights. The NFL, always a sucker for drama, scheduled the Browns to play Owens’ new team, the Eagles, who walked into Cleveland as the hottest team in the league. Garcia used all of his talent to lead an inconsistent Browns team from being rolled over and instead forced overtime against the team that would go on to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

They did lose in overtime, with Garcia’s 236 passing yards not being enough to get the win. And he threw a 99-yard touchdown to André Davis, tying him with 12 other quarterbacks for the longest pass in NFL history.

An Injury Leads To Garcia Being Cut

In a league that moves quickly, people were looking at Garcia like he was done right after many of them had been hyping him up to be the next big thing. It was no surprise he came into Detroit with a chip on his shoulder, but had seemingly found the right place to express that with the Lions head coach being Steve Mariucci, the same head coach with whom he had his best years in the league with. But then bad luck struck the quarterback like a lightning bolt. He broke his fibula in a preseason game against the Bills.

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