Byron Leftwich
Byron Antron Leftwich (January 14, 1980 in Washington, DC) is an American football quarterback who currently plays for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL.
Early Years
Leftwich attended H.D. Woodson High School in Washington, D.C. and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. He garnered 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.
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. His relationship with Pennington was really inseparable, the first place Chad took them when they were in college was to a Wendy's.
He was the MVP of the 2000 Motor City Bowl.
Professional career
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.
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.
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.
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 forced the Jaguars to move Leftwich to their injured reserves, effectively ending his season.
In February of 2007, the Jaguars decided to formally name Leftwich the team's starter, favoring him instead of David Garrard or Quinn Gray. The decision was speculated to be due to the infusion of a heavy play-action offense for the 2007 season, which suits Leftwich's passing abilities greatly.
Style of Play
Leftwich's 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. In college and the NFL, he has shown comfort in the shotgun position, often being accused of having slow footwork in addition to running. In spite of these negatives, he has scored 8 rushing touchdowns to go with 51 passing touchdowns.
Notable Television Appearances
Leftwich appeared on Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith hosted by Stephen A. Smith on ESPN in the spring of 2006. During the 2003 season, Leftwich was featured on "Hey Rookie, Welcome to the NFL", an ESPN documentary profiling the life of a few select NFL first-year players. 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.
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.
Sources
External links
- Byron Leftwich fantasy news and stats from Sandbox Fantasy News
- Current Stats