The irony couldn’t have been lost on Philadelphia Eagles fans.
On the same weekend that Terrell Owens was spitting in the face of D’Angelo Hall, another player he had spit on verbally was resurrecting a team that T.O. sunk one year earlier.
It has been said that one man can’t make a team. True. But one man can break a team, as T.O. proved one year ago when the Eagles staggered to a 6-10 record.
Which brings us to Jeff Garcia, who was the object of T.O.’s venom a few years back, though nothing so watery as what Hall got. After Garcia’s start at Indianapolis, Philadelphia was 5-6 and looking at a similar record as one year earlier.
The fickle Philly fans were calling for Garcia’s head during the first half of the game with the Carolina Panthers. And then, in front of a national television audience, the Gilroy gunslinger brought the Eagles from behind to victory.
Then came wins on the road over the Washington Redskins and New York Giants. Garcia’s ratings in his four starts are 121, 105.9, 115 and 90.9. More important, the Eagles are now 8-6 and in control of their destiny with a Christmas showdown with T.O and the Cowboys up next. If they win out, they win the division.
Garcia is not perfect.
He threw an interception and got flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Sunday against the New York Giants, which drew an amusing comment from normally dour Eagles’ coach Andy Reid — “at 36, it’s good he has that much energy.”
Garcia kept his cool when it counted most, leading the Eagles on an 80-yard drive after the Giants moved ahead 22-21 in the fourth quarter. And he succeeded where McNabb failed earlier in the season against New York.
It’s hard to imagine any quarterback playing better and showing greater leadership over the last three weeks of the season than Garcia. If he’s playing for one last multiyear contract, his audition has been a smashing success.
His teammates have taken notice.
“Jeff has done a great job,” running back Brian Westbrook said on the Eagles’ Web site. “He comes in, he doesn’t make many mistakes, he runs this offense, he leads the team, and with him back there we have a chance of winning and that’s what we need.”
Amazing how Garcia’s football world has come full circle. Remember, this was a guy cast aside by the 49ers and wound up banished to Cleveland and Detroit, both of which qualify as NFL versions of Siberia.
One has to wonder if the Eagles would have even signed Garcia if Marty Mornhinweg wasn’t the team’s offensive coordinator, the position he held with the 49ers during Garcia’s best NFL years.
Despite playing just four full games, this season is beginning to shape up as one of Garcia’s best, certainly his most productive since his Niners’ days. His 9-1 ratio for touchdowns to interceptions is the best in football. He has completed 61.7 percent of his passes and taught the nasayers a thing or two.
If nothing else, we know that T.O. is full of spit and Garcia is not washed up.
Contact Marc David at (408) 842-1694 or at md****@sv**********.com.
