Byron Antron Leftwich (born
January 14, 1980 in Washington, D.C.
) is an American
football quarterback for the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the
National Football
League. He was drafted by the
Jacksonville Jaguars seventh overall in
the
2003 NFL Draft. He played
college football at
Marshall.
Leftwich has also played for the
Atlanta
Falcons and the
Pittsburgh
Steelers. He earned a
Super Bowl
ring with the Steelers in
Super
Bowl XLIII.
Early years
Leftwich attended H.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. Nicknamed
"SqueE" for his loud, casual footwear.
College career
Leftwich
starred at Marshall
University
in West
Virginia
.
He gained
recognition after quarterbacking a 64–61 overtime victory over
East Carolina
University
in the 2001 GMAC Bowl (in
which he took on future teammate David
Garrard). He is also remembered for being carried by
linemen Steve Sciullo and Steve Perretta, after breaking his shin and
returning to the game, down the field on multiple series as he
rallied his team to a 17 point comeback against Akron
in November
2002. The image of Leftwich being carried after a completion
has become iconic for compassion teammates show. Leftwich, along
with fellow Marshall alumni
Chad
Pennington and
Randy Moss is also
credited for helping the
Mid-American Conference (MAC) gain
more national attention (Marshall has since joined
Conference USA).
He was the MVP of the
2000 Motor
City Bowl.
Leftwich, for his career at Marshall completed 939 of 1,442 passes
(65.1 percent) for 11,903 yards, 89 touchdowns and only 28
interceptions. He amassed 12,090 yards of total offense on 1,632
plays, ranking second on the school’s all-time record lists 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 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 may 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 escalators 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.
Pittsburgh 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
$645,000 and included a $40,000 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 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.
In the media
References
- ESPN.com - NCAA College Football - The 100
-
http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29078&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&season=2006&week=REG15
- My Super Bowl Journey:Byron Leftwich
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search