Byron Leftwich Byron Antron Leftwich ( born January 14 , 1980 ) is an American football quarterback in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers . He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars seventh overall in the 2003 NFL Draft . He played college football at Marshall University . Leftwich has also played for the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers . He earned a Super Bowl ring with the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII . Early years . Leftwich attended Howard D . Woodson High School in Washington , D . C . and was a letterman in football , basketball , and baseball . He garnered an honorable mention on the Washington Post ' s All - Met football team in 1997 as a senior . He was also first team All - DCIAA East in basketball his senior year . College career . Leftwich starred at Marshall University in Huntington , West Virginia . He was the MVP of the 2000 Motor City Bowl . Leftwich gained recognition after quarterbacking a 64 – 61 overtime victory over East Carolina in the 2001 GMAC Bowl , in which he competed against future teammate David Garrard . He is also remembered for being carried by linemen Steve Sciullo and Steve Perretta , after breaking his shin , specifically the left tibia , and returning to the game , taking Marshall down the field on multiple series as he rallied his team to a 17 - point comeback against Akron in November 2002 , although Marshall still lost 34 – 20 . Leftwich , along with fellow Marshall alumni Chad Pennington and Randy Moss , and Doug Chapman is also credited for helping the Mid - American Conference ( MAC ) gain more national attention ; Marshall has since joined Conference USA . In his career at Marshall , Leftwich completed 939 of 1 , 442 passes ( 65 . 1 percent ) for 11 , 903 yards , 89 touchdowns and 28 interceptions . He amassed 12 , 090 yards of total offense on 1 , 632 plays , ranking second on the school ' s all - time list behind Chad Pennington . Professional career . 2003 NFL Draft . At the 2003 NFL Draft , the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens agreed to a trade to move the Ravens into position to take Leftwich with Minnesota ' s seventh overall selection . However , one of the teams had second thoughts at the last minute and the Vikings missed the allotted time for their pick . As a result , they defaulted on the selection and were dropped to ninth . The Jaguars , originally supposed to draft eighth , moved up and took Leftwich with the seventh overall pick . Jacksonville Jaguars . Leftwich took over as the Jaguars starting quarterback in game four of his rookie year after Mark Brunell was injured in the previous week ' s matchup against the Indianapolis Colts . For the first 11 games of the 2005 regular season , Leftwich was developing into the quarterback the Jaguars believed he would become when they picked him in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft . He obtained a passer rating of 89 . 3 , ninth - best in the NFL , and a 3 : 1 touchdown : interception ratio ( 15 : 5 ) . However in the regular season against the Arizona Cardinals , Leftwich suffered a broken ankle after being sacked by Cardinals ' safety Adrian Wilson on the first play of the game . Leftwich missed the remaining five games of the regular season . He returned against the New England Patriots in the AFC Wild Card round of the playoffs . The Patriots won 28 – 3 . Leftwich entered his fourth NFL season as the Jaguars ' starting quarterback , but without veteran wide receiver Jimmy Smith , who suddenly retired in May 2006 . Leftwich led the Jaguars to victories on national television in consecutive weeks against the favored Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers to begin the 2006 season . Leftwich suffered an ankle injury in a week 4 loss to the Washington Redskins . Following a week 6 loss to the Houston Texans , Leftwich had surgery to repair the ankle , which effectively ended his season . David Garrard replaced Leftwich for the remainder of the season . In his first seven games as Leftwich ' s replacement , Garrard led the Jaguars to five wins and two losses and an 8 – 5 record through thirteen games in the season . Garrard ' s and the team ' s success in Leftwich ' s absence led to speculation that the Jaguars might seek to replace Leftwich permanently with Garrard . However , the Jaguars lost the three final games of the season , preventing the team from making the playoffs . Garrard struggled during the final three games . He threw three interceptions and fumbled once in a 24 – 17 loss to the Tennessee Titans , whose offense had struggled throughout the game mustering only 98 total yards of offense to the Jaguars ' 396 . Three of the turnovers were returned for touchdowns , accounting for 21 of the Titans ' 24 points . The Jaguars lost their following two games against the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs . In the final game of the season , Garrard ' s ineffectiveness prompted Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio to replace Garrard with backup Quinn Gray . In February 2007 , Del Rio publicly reaffirmed his commitment to Leftwich , formally naming him as the team ' s starter over Garrard and Gray . If the team had been favoring Garrard after the first seven games of the season , his unfavorable performance in the final three games almost certainly led to reaffirmation of Leftwich . After observing Leftwich ' s and Garrard ' s performances throughout the 2007 preseason , in the week preceding the first regular season game of 2007 Del Rio named Garrard the team ' s starter and declared that Leftwich would be either cut or traded . The Jaguars cut Leftwich on September 1 , 2007 . Atlanta Falcons . On September 17 , 2007 , Leftwich was flown out to Atlanta to meet with Atlanta Falcons officials , citing a possible signing with the team . On September 18 , Leftwich signed a two - year deal with the Falcons with incentives attached that could make the deal worth up to $ 7 million . Leftwich entered the season as a backup to starter Joey Harrington . After replacing Harrington late in Week 5 , Leftwich got the start in Week 7 and played very well , before having to leave the game with an ankle sprain . He got the start again in Week 11 after returning from his injury . Harrington regained his starting position and Leftwich did not play again . On February 15 , 2008 , he was released by the Falcons . He worked out for the Tennessee Titans in July . First stint with Steelers . On August 10 , 2008 , Leftwich was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers to a one - year deal after Pittsburgh ' s backup Charlie Batch was injured in a pre - season game . The contract was worth $ 1 , 645 , 000 and included a $ 140 , 000 signing bonus . Leftwich started the 2008 season as the back - up quarterback to Ben Roethlisberger . " I ' m the guy sitting in the bullpen , " he stated prior to the first game of the 2008 season , " if something were to happen , I have to go out there . " Leftwich performed well throughout the season when called upon , appearing in 5 games . During the 2008 season , he completed 21 of 36 attempts for 303 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions for a 104 . 3 passer rating , in addition to rushing for 1 touchdown . Leftwich earned a Super Bowl ring as the Steelers ' backup when the Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII . Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Leftwich agreed to terms on a two - year contract worth $ 17 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on April 12 , 2009 . On August 29 , Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris named Leftwich the team ' s starter for the 2009 regular season . On September 28 , Buccaneers benched Leftwich after a disappointing loss to the New York Giants and an 0 - 3 start to the season . Josh Johnson was named the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ' new starting QB , while Leftwich moved down to 3rd string behind Josh Freeman . After spending several games inactive due to an elbow injury , on November 24 , Leftwich was placed on injured reserve , ending his 2009 season . Second stint with Steelers . 2010 . Leftwich was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a 2010 seventh - round draft pick on April 20 , 2010 . He was expected to be the starter while Ben Roethlisberger served his four game suspension , but suffered a knee injury during the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers . Leftwich was cut from the Steelers on September 18 , 2010 in a temporary move to make room for defensive lineman Steve McLendon , who was signed due to an injury to Casey Hampton . However , on September 19 , Steelers quarterback Dennis Dixon was injured in a win over the Tennessee Titans and Leftwich was re - signed on the morning of September 20 . Leftwich made one appearance during the regular season finale , in relief of Roethlisberger , once the game was out of reach for opponents Cleveland . The final score was 41 - 9 and he completed 5 passes out of 7 attempts for a total of 42 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions . Leftwich was the Steelers backup QB for their playoff run and Super Bowl XLV loss to the Green Bay Packers . 2011 . During Week 3 of the 2011 Pre - season against Atlanta , Leftwich broke his left arm after landing awkwardly while running with the ball . On September 2 , he was placed on the Injured Reserve list , causing him to miss the entire season . He later re - signed with the team in April 2012 . 2012 . During Week 10 of the 2012 regular season , Ben Roethlisberger got knocked out of the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Heinz Field , injuring his SC joint and rib on the only sack of the game . Leftwich came into the game and completed 7 of 14 passes for 73 yards , helping lead the team to a go - ahead field goal in the fourth quarter that would eventually be tied before the Steelers finally won in overtime . Two days after the win against the Chiefs , the Steelers announced that Leftwich would be the starter in Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens at home . He had a career long rush of 31 yards for a touchdown in the opening drive in Week 11 loss against the rival Baltimore Ravens . However , in the process , he broke his rib and was sidelined after the game .