Byron Leftwich

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Byron Leftwich
Date of birth January 14, 1980
Place of birth Washington, DC
Position(s) Quarterback
College Marshall
NFL Draft 2003 / Round 1 / Pick 7
Statistics
Team(s)
2003–Present Jacksonville Jaguars

Byron Anton Leftwich (January 14, 1980 in Washington, DC) is an American football quarterback who currently plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL.

Contents

[edit] Early Years

Leftwich attended H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C. and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. He garned 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.

[edit] College career

Leftwich starred at Marshall University in West Virginia. He gained notoriety after quarterbacking a 64-61 overtime victory over East Carolina University in the 2001 GMAC Bowl. He is also remembered for being carried by two teammates (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. Leftwich, along with fellow Marshall Alumni Chad Pennington and Randy Moss is also credited for helping Mid-American Conference (MAC) gain more national attention.

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.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] NFL Draft Day 2003

At the 2003 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens agreed to a trade to move the Ravens into position to take Leftwich. However, one of the teams had second thoughts at the last minute and the Vikings missed their pick. The Jaguars took Leftwich with the 7th overall pick.

[edit] 2003 Season

Leftwich was named the starting quarterback in Jacksonville in the fourth game of his rookie year after previous starter Mark Brunell had struggled.

[edit] 2005 Season

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 was replaced by backup David Garrard, who was equally ineffective.

[edit] 2006 Season

Leftwich entered his fourth NFL season as the Jaguars starting quarterback. He entered the season without veteran wide receiver Jimmy Smith, who retired suddenly 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 sustained an injury to his ankle after 5 games and has yet to return to the Jaguars lineup. In November, Leftwich had surgery on the injured ankle. The surgery will likely keep him out for the remainder of the 2006 season.

[edit] Style of Play

Leftwich is one of the largest (Height: 6-5 Weight: 242) and strongest (300-pound bench press … 370-pound squat … 286-pound power clean) starting quarterbacks in all of the NFL. This size and strength allows him to throw extremely fast bullet passes and deep balls with ease. He is not very fast and prefers to remain in the pocket regardless of how the offensive line is holding up. His size allows him to bounce off of blitzing linebackers on occasion. He rarely fumbles, and is very smart with the ball, posting one of the best touchdown to interception ratios in the NFL. Leftwich has also somewhat broken the mold for African-American Quarterbacks in the NFL. Before Leftwich, the stereotype for African-American Quarterbacks was that they were equally or more adept at running and scrambling and generally had weaker arm strength and accuracy than their white counterparts. Leftwich, however, is a standard drop-back pocket passer with limited mobility.

[edit] Notable Television Appearances

Leftwich appeared on Quite Frankly hosted by Stephen A Smith on ESPN in the spring of 2006. A 1967 Lincoln Continental owned by Leftwich was featured on an episode of the show Unique Whips on Speed Channel. In college he starred in MTV's True Life : I'm a Heisman Trophy candidate.

[edit] Trivia

  • Leftwich's favorite musical artist is Lil Wayne.[citation needed]
  • In a 2006 football broadcast, he acknowledged he wants to become a television analyst after football.
  • Byron's favorite team growing up was the Washington Redskins.

[edit] Sources

[1]

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Mark Brunell		 Jacksonville Jaguars Starting Quarterbacks
2003-2006		 Succeeded by:
David Garrard
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