At 40 years old, quarterback Jeff Garcia still wants to play.
The Gilroy native who played at Gavilan College and Gilroy High
School before going on to a Pro-Bowl career with the San Francisco
49ers will don the uniform of the Omaha Nighthawks of the United
Football League this fall.
GILROY
At 40 years old, quarterback Jeff Garcia still wants to play.
The Gilroy native who played at Gavilan College and Gilroy High School before going on to a Pro-Bowl career with the San Francisco 49ers will don the uniform of the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League this fall.
“I have not signed a contract yet, but I have committed to them. And this all just happened recently,” Garcia said Thursday. “It will be just a one-year contract for this season. I’m shaking hands on this, I’m signing my name to it and giving them my commitment for the entire season.
“It’s an opportunity to share my skills and my leadership and my playing abilities with my teammates and the city of Omaha.”
Garcia said he made the decision to jump to the UFL as prospects for a return to the NFL dimmed in recent weeks.
“For a while there it wasn’t really an option. I was thinking that an NFL opportunity was going to happen.” Garcia said. “It was either sit around and twiddle my thumbs and wait for a call like I did last year, which was not a very successful thing, or, go play some football and hopefully have a great experience and prove to myself and anybody else that wants to pay attention that I can still play the game at a high level.”
Garcia played in one game for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009, and has been adamant about continuing his career. Rumors circulated that Garcia might return to the Eagles to backup first-year starter Kevin Kolb. Garcia’s father, Bob, a longtime football coach in Gilroy, confirmed that the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints had expressed interest.
But Garcia decided to take the snap in hand, rather than wait for an NFL option.
“Minnesota had called him and said, ‘If (Brett) Favre doesn’t play, are you ready to go?,'” Bob Garcia said. “But, you know what? Favre is going to play.
“I said, ‘[the Nighthawks] really want you and are willing to make you one of the marquee players in the league.'”
Bob Garcia said that the Nighthawks have already sold more season tickets than the entire league did last season, and added that Jeff will report to camp next Thursday.
“(The fans) are really excited about the team,” Bob Garcia said.
Formed in 2009, the UFL has five teams: Sacramento, Florida, Hartford, Las Vegas and Omaha.
“I’m fortunate to be in a place where I can make a difference, and that excites me,” Garcia said. “I just want to go out to Omaha and take advantage of a great opportunity and make the most out of my experience with a new team and a new league.”
He’ll join the likes of former NFL players Daunte Culpepper, Ahman Green, Brooks Bollinger and Tatum Bell, among others, who have made the move to the UFL. The season spans eight games, beginning September 18. The Nighthawks begin the season September 24 against Hartford. Omaha plays at Sacramento November 13.
After graduating from Gilroy High and Gavilan, where he played for his dad, Garcia earned acclaim at San Jose State but didn’t get an immediate shot at an NFL roster. He headed north to play three years for the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders, where he led the Stampeders to a Grey Cup in 1998.
Garcia, praised since his San Jose State days by legendary 49ers coach Bill Walsh, was signed by the San Francisco 49ers in 1998 where he took over for Steve Young three games into the 1999 season. The five-time pro bowler took the Niners to the playoffs twice in his five-plus seasons with the team.
Since his departure from San Francisco, Garcia has played for the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Eagles, leading both the Buccaneers (2007) and the Eagles (2006) to playoff victories.
