Garcia is one of only eighteen quarterbacks in NFL history who have achieved two consecutive thirty-touchdown passing seasons (2000 and 2001) at least one time in his career. The others are
Philip Rivers,
Steve Bartkowski,
Drew Brees,
Peyton Manning,
Brett Favre,
Dan Fouts,
Dan Marino,
Tom Brady,
Aaron Rodgers,
Y. A. Tittle,
Eli Manning,
Tony Romo,
Russell Wilson,
Patrick Mahomes,
Kirk Cousins,
Josh Allen,
Justin Herbert, and
Joe Burrow. He is also one of only fourteen quarterbacks to throw a
99-yard touchdown pass.
Calgary Stampeders At 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, Garcia was considered too small for the
National Football League and was not selected in the
1994 NFL draft. 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 the
86th Grey Cup and a victory over the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was named
Grey Cup MVP. Garcia's 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. Garcia was inducted to the Stampeders Wall of Fame on September 14, 2012, along with 5 others (
Rudy Linterman,
Gerry Shaw,
Kelvin Anderson,
Sig Gutsche,
Norman Kwong).
San Francisco 49ers 1999 Following the Grey Cup victory, Garcia was signed as a backup to
Steve Young with the
San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Over the summer, he had been fighting for a spot on the roster, but early in the
1999 season, Young was hit by Arizona Cardinals cornerback
Aeneas Williams and suffered his final professional concussion, knocking him out for the year. Garcia stepped in and shared time with former Stanford quarterback
Steve Stenstrom finishing the season. Garcia won his first NFL start against the Tennessee Titans 24–22. After being benched for poor performances, Garcia was reinstated as the starting quarterback and in the final five games of the regular season, finished by tossing 8 touchdown passes to only 2 interceptions. Garcia finished his rookie season with 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
2000 The following
season, with Young retired, and despite the 49ers drafting two quarterbacks (
Giovanni Carmazzi in the third round and
Tim Rattay in the seventh), 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. Garcia finished the 2000 season, his first as a full-time starter with 31 touchdown passes to only 10 INTs. Garcia began the season on a tear, after 7 games, he had thrown for 19 touchdown passes, including 3 games of 4 touchdown passes.
2001 By the
2001 season, Garcia had become entrenched as the 49ers' starting quarterback. He had a career-high with 32 touchdown passes, including 21 over an eight-game span. With Garcia at quarterback, the 49ers made the playoffs, but fell to Green Bay 25–15 in the first round.
2002 2002 saw Garcia's offensive production drop from 31 and 32 TDs in the previous two seasons, to only 21. But even though Garcia's numbers dropped, the 49ers won the
NFC West for the first time since 1997, with the division-clinching game coming on a last-second TD pass to
Terrell Owens against the
Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers trailed the Cowboys 27–17 with under 7 minutes left in the game before Garcia picked apart the Cowboy secondary for 2 touchdown passes (one to
Tai Streets and the game winner to Owens). Garcia completed 36 of 55 passes for 276 yards and 3 4th-quarter touchdown passes in the division-clinching win. On January 5, 2003, during the
2002–2003 playoffs, Garcia led the 49ers to a comeback win over the
New York Giants, the second largest comeback victory in NFL playoff history. In the third quarter, the Giants were up 38–14, with about eighteen minutes left to play. Once the 49ers regained possession of the ball, they began a comeback that saw 25 unanswered points, with San Francisco taking a 39–38 lead. The Giants lost an opportunity to retake the lead after a controversial call, and the improbable victory became the signature game of Garcia's 49er career. He threw for 331 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, and also ran for 60 yards and 1 touchdown.
Garcia–Owens: 49er duo Garcia's favorite target while with the 49ers was WR
Terrell Owens. In 2003, Garcia and Owens's relationship turned sour upon Garcia taking issue with Owens's public praise for the play of backup quarterback
Tim Rattay. Garcia responded with a cryptic "we cannot let the sickness spread" remark, prompting Owens to wear a surgeon's mask at the following practice. Following Owens's trade to Philadelphia, Owens was asked in a
Playboy interview if he thought Garcia was gay, to which he responded, "If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat." Garcia called Owens' insinuations "ridiculous" and "untrue." Following his 2004 trade to
Philadelphia, Owens began speaking out and criticizing Garcia for the 49ers' offensive struggles during the 2003 season (the 49ers finished 7–9, with Garcia throwing 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions during the season). Garcia revealed on multiple occasions that the pressure of following in the footsteps of
Joe Montana and
Steve Young had gotten to him. Upon his departure, Garcia said, "Have somebody step into my shoes and feel what I had to deal with throughout that whole time in San Francisco. The dust would start to settle, and all of a sudden, more fuel was thrown into the fire. It was such a negative situation." In Owens' first season with Garcia as his quarterback, Owens caught 60 passes and went on to have campaigns of 97, 93, 100 and 80 receptions over the next four seasons, two times leading the league in touchdown catches. Following their 2002 playoff loss at the hands of the eventual Super Bowl Champion
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the 49ers fired head coach
Steve Mariucci and replaced him with former
Seattle Seahawks coach
Dennis Erickson, who promised a wide open and vertical passing game. Injuries to key players on both sides of the ball, and the often reckless play of Garcia, took a toll on him, as he missed three games during the season. The 49ers finished 7–9 and missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Following the
2003 season, Garcia was released.
Cleveland Browns Garcia signed a contract with the
Cleveland Browns on March 9, 2004. Garcia was released by the Browns after the
2004 season, in which he struggled to find any consistency and battled with injuries. On September 19, 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. Despite his struggles, Garcia tied the record for longest career pass play (
99 yards) on a completion to
André Davis on October 17, in a win against the
Cincinnati Bengals.
Detroit Lions 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 pre-season game against the
Buffalo Bills on September 2. He started his first regular-season game as quarterback for the Lions on October 23, 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.
Philadelphia Eagles (first stint) On March 15, 2006, after consecutive frustrating seasons with the Browns and Lions, Garcia signed a one-year contract with the
Philadelphia Eagles to serve as the primary backup to
Donovan McNabb in
2006. McNabb had been lost to injury the previous season, and the Eagles went 1–6 without him and missed the playoffs just a year removed from their
Super Bowl appearance. Because McNabb was already wearing number 5, Garcia had his jersey number changed to 7, previously worn in Philadelphia by
Ron Jaworski. Following McNabb's season-ending knee injury in a game against the
Tennessee Titans on November 19, 2006, Garcia entered the game. Coach
Andy Reid named Garcia as the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season over fellow backup
A. J. Feeley, despite Feeley's popularity in
Philadelphia (Feeley had previously gone 4–1 in 2002 when McNabb was injured). Garcia's first start for the Eagles came against the Colts on
Sunday Night Football. With a 45–21 loss to Indianapolis dropping the Eagles below .500, many sportscasters (namely
Jimmy Johnson) predicted the Eagles to be out of contention for the rest of the season. However, Garcia led the Eagles to five consecutive victories and the NFC East division championship. The rejuvenated quarterback threw ten touchdowns and only two interceptions, while posting a
QB rating of 95.8 in eight total games played. He also made the front cover of
Sports Illustrated 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. He threw for 240 yards, 75 of which came on a touchdown to
Donté Stallworth (setting the record for the longest passing touchdown in Eagles' postseason history). Though he stated that he would love to re-sign with Philadelphia, the Eagles decided not to offer Garcia a new contract after the season. The Eagles opted to instead sign the younger Feeley to a three-year deal, and avoid a potential quarterback controversy between Garcia and McNabb.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa Bay After his run with the Eagles, Garcia signed with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers on March 3, 2007, to compete for their starting position. Although his more familiar number 5 was available, Garcia decided to keep the number 7 he wore with the Eagles. He was named the Buccaneers' starting quarterback for 2007. Taking over the reins of a Buccaneers team that went 4–12 in 2006, Garcia led them to the
NFC South division title. The Buccaneers lost to the eventual
Super Bowl champion
New York Giants, 24–14, in the
Wild Card Round. Garcia would be named to his fourth
Pro Bowl that season, his first since 2002. The Buccaneers would not return to the playoffs until the
2020 season. In the 2008 season opener, Garcia left the game due to injury. Tampa would end up using a "quarterback by committee" rotation between Garcia,
Brian Griese, and
Luke McCown through the year. During a victory over the
Seattle Seahawks, Garcia passed for 310 yards, surpassing 40,000 yards for his career when combining his
statistics from both the CFL and NFL, becoming the twentieth player to accomplish the feat. The uncertainty at quarterback led to the Buccaneers losing their final four games in a row, dropping to 9–7 and out of the playoffs. They ultimately decided to move on from Garcia and not re-sign him in the offseason.
Oakland Raiders Garcia signed a one-year deal with the
Oakland Raiders on April 6, 2009. As he did in Tampa Bay,
Bruce Gradkowski changed his number to 5 to allow Garcia to wear number 7. He was expected to back up
JaMarcus Russell in the 2009 season, but was released during final cuts on September 5, 2009.
Philadelphia Eagles (second stint) After Eagles' quarterback
Donovan McNabb suffered a fractured rib in week one, the Eagles signed Garcia to a one-year contract on September 14, 2009. He was released on September 29, following
Michael Vick's return from suspension. During this short stint with the Eagles, he wore jersey number 9.
Omaha Nighthawks Garcia was one of the signature players of the
United Football League and his former team, the
Omaha Nighthawks. He won two offensive player of the week awards during the 2010 season, having produced a game-winning drive in two separate games.
Houston Texans On December 6, 2011, Garcia signed with the
Houston Texans, following an injury to starting quarterback
Matt Schaub.
Jake Delhomme was also signed by Houston, as both he and Garcia would back up
T. J. Yates. ==Career statistics==