page_title: Jeff Garcia
section_title: Philadelphia Eagles (first stint)
hierarchical_section_title: Jeff Garcia / Professional career / Philadelphia Eagles (first stint)
caption_attribution_description: English: Jeff Garcia of the Philadelphia Eagles takes a snap in a game against the Washington Redskins on December 12, 2006
context_page_description: Jeffrey Jason Garcia is a former gridiron football quarterback. After attending high school and junior college in Gilroy, California, Garcia played college football at San Jose State University.
  A four-time CFL All-Star and four-time NFL Pro Bowl selection, Garcia began his professional football career with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League as an undrafted free agent in 1994. In 1999, Garcia debuted in the National Football League with the San Francisco 49ers. With the 49ers, Garcia made three Pro Bowl appearances and led the team to the playoffs in the 2001 and 2002 seasons. Afterwards, Garcia encountered a low point in his career, starting with a lackluster 2003 season with San Francisco then two losing seasons with the Cleveland Browns in 2004 and the Detroit Lions in 2005. With the Philadelphia Eagles, Garcia returned to form late in the 2006 season, starting for an injured Donovan McNabb and leading Philadelphia to the playoffs. Garcia joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007 and was the starting quarterback for most games of the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Again, Garcia led Tampa Bay to the playoffs in 2007 and made his fourth career Pro Bowl appearance.
context_section_description: 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.
caption: Garcia gets set to take a snap against the Redskins on December 10, 2006.
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