Bucs Did The Right Thing By Moving On From Garcia
February 16
Tampa Tribune
columnist Joe Henderson
"For two seasons Jeff Garcia represented the Tampa Bay Buccaneers best chance to win a football game. That shouldn't be forgotten.
But he wasn't part of the long-range solution here to the frustrating mediocrity that has stalked this franchise since the Super Bowl season and led to Jon Gruden's dismissal. There was never a doubt about that, even though Garcia said he wanted to return for a third go-round as the Bucs starting quarterback.
The inevitable became official Monday. Word broke that Garcia was told by new Bucs general manager Mark Dominik that he will not be offered a contract. If anyone is possibly surprised by that, they simply have misread the overhaul going on at One Buc Place.
The immediate future for this football team could not include a quarterback who is nearly seven years older than the head coach. That's not saying Luke McCown, signed last week to a 2-year, $7.5 million contract, is the answer. The Bucs have to find out if McCown really can play, though, and they couldn't do that if Garcia was still around.
I don't come to bury Garcia, though.
You had to love his head-first style, even if everyone dressed in pewter cringed when he charged into a linebacker. He got the most out of what he has. He went to the Pro Bowl his first season here and directed the Bucs to a division championship. And it seemed like he was forever clashing with Gruden, which certainly was entertaining.
Even as the offense plodded and stumbled, he argued there were playmakers that weren't being used properly by the head coach. He even tried to involve himself in personnel matters last off-season. All that basically did was annoy Gruden and former GM Bruce Allen.
There also was the ill-fated attempt to force the Bucs into a renegotiation of his contract. He complained publicly about a "lack of respect" from the Bucs. I ripped him for it then, reasoning that no one wants to hear millionaires whine about money. Maybe he had a point, though, because the Bucs never really did treat him right."
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