David Douglas Garrard (born February 14, 1978) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons, primarily with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at East Carolina and was selected by the Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. Garrard became the team's starting quarterback in 2007, leading them to their first playoff win since 1999. A Pro Bowl selection in 2009, he remained the starter until he was released before the 2011 season.
Early life
Garrard was born in East Orange, New Jersey and grew up in Durham, North Carolina. When he was fourteen his mother died of breast cancer. When he began his professional career he created The David Garrard Foundation to promote breast cancer awareness and research.
Garrard attended Southern High School in Durham, where he was named an All-America choice by Prep Stars and rated the best high school quarterback in North Carolina. Veteran high school coaches in North Carolina said Garrard possessed one of the strongest arms they had ever seen and compared Garrard to former NFL quarterback and North Carolina native Roman Gabriel.
College career
Garrard attended East Carolina University, where he played for the East Carolina Pirates football team. Although physically larger than most quarterbacks at more than 240 pounds, Garrard displayed exceptional mobility. Former East Carolina head football coach Steve Logan compared the experience of tackling Garrard to "getting hit by a beer truck." Garrard also proved durable, starting every game for the Pirates in the 1999, 2000, and 2001 seasons.
In Garrard's sophomore season, he led the Pirates to a 9–3 record with victories over the West Virginia Mountaineers, South Carolina Gamecocks, Miami Hurricanes, and North Carolina State Wolfpack. In the fourth game of the season against Miami, East Carolina came back from a 20–3 deficit to defeat the 13th-ranked Miami Hurricanes, 27–23. Garrard threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Keith Stokes for the go-ahead score in the final minutes of the game. ECU was unable to play the scheduled home game at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium on its campus in Greenville, NC, because Hurricane Floyd had ravaged the eastern part of the state the prior week. The hurricane also prevented the Pirates from returning to Greenville following a road victory against South Carolina, leaving ECU's football team stranded in Columbia, SC. East Carolina moved the game against Miami to Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh. The victory propelled ECU into the Associated Press college football poll's top 25. The Pirates spent eleven weeks ranked in the AP poll, climbed to as high as 16th in the poll, and finished the regular season ranked 20th. East Carolina dropped out of the top 25 to 27th in the voting after losing 28–14 in the 1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl to Texas Christian University and the Horned Frogs' star running back, LaDainian Tomlinson.
ECU finished 8–4 in Garrard's junior season. Garrard capped the season by throwing an unbelievable touchdown and rushing for another acrobatic touchdown in a 40–27 victory against Texas Tech in the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl. Garrard's senior season began with high expectations but ended in disappointment. Although East Carolina averaged more than 35 points per game in 2001, the Pirates finished the season with a 6–6 record.
Ironically, the final game of Garrard's college career pitted him against Marshall University and its starting quarterback, Byron Leftwich, in the 2001 GMAC Bowl. Garrard and Leftwich would eventually be teammates with the Jacksonville Jaguars and compete for the team's starting quarterback position. In the highest-scoring bowl game in college football history to that point, Leftwich brought Marshall back from a thirty-point deficit to defeat Garrard's East Carolina Pirates 64–61 in double-overtime.
Garrard broke 28 school passing and offensive records at East Carolina and joined a select few quarterbacks who achieved more than 9000 passing yards and 1000 rushing yards in their collegiate careers.
Garrard went on to graduate from East Carolina University in 2001 with a degree in Construction Management.