Byron Leftwich was almost left with no team
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Did Byron Leftwich get too big for Coach Jack Del Rio and the Jacksonville Jaguars?
Don’t you always wonder about a player when he is available and no one jumps on him?
Like when David Carr wanted out of Houston or Josh McCown wanted out of Detroit or Culpepper wanted out of Miami.
Quickly you will remark, “He must be no good”.
But Byron was available.
The Bears did not take him.
The Raiders looked past him.
The Lions did not try to get him as a backup.
The Giants did not give him a look.
Fortunately for Byron, Joey Harrington was not doing so well with Atlanta.
Harrington, who signed with the Falcons to serve as Vick’s backup and try to get his career back on track, was thrust into the starting role by default. While he’s completed more than 67 percent of his passes, he’s accounted for more touchdowns by the opposition (Minnesota returned two interceptions to the end zone in Week 1) than his own team has scored (the Falcons managed one TD in the first two games). source
OK, roll right into the starting position, right?
Wrong!
“This will have no effect,” Petrino said. “Byron comes in as the No. 3. I talked to him about it, and I talked to the other two quarterbacks about it. They both knew we were looking for a veteran guy. We wanted to be patient, take our time and make sure we had the right guy.”
Leftwich, who agreed to a two-year, $7 million contract, just wanted to get back on the field — even if it was only a practice field in the far northern suburbs of sprawling Atlanta. He took part in the nearly two-hour workout, then hung around afterward to throw some extra passes.
Wait a minute, if Byron is number 3, then who is number 2? He must be some well known veteran backup, right?
Yeah, right, try Chris Redman. Don’t think he has even played since 2003.
Just a wild guess here, but if Byron remains number 3, then his days in the NFL are numbered.
Now in fairness to Byron, he has some ankle problems and probably needs a little time to learn the offense, but Atlanta is excited, because Byron is a winner!
Leftwich has a 24-20 record as a starter, considerably better than Harrington’s 23-45 mark.
Byron Leftwich naysayer’s
So everything is cool, right? A few weeks and Leftwich starts and the Falcons begin to head down the road to glory!
No, there are a lot of Byron doubters out there. After all, no one jumped to pick him up, remember?
But it is difficult to believe that Byron Leftwich, aka Fat Albert, is the solution. Yes, Petrino can argue that Leftwich will eventually be more decisive than Harrington has been, but Jacksonville cut him loose because of his slow delivery and his unwillingness to listen to the coaches. source
The sad part has Byron playing for the Falcons. How will you even know if he is any good? Byron could be awesome and the Falcons could still lose!
NFL Football Fan Question Will Byron fail like Culpepper this year or pull off what Jeff Garcia did last year?
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3 opinions for Byron Leftwich was almost left with no team
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Sep 20, 2007 at 4:47 am
(Also, be sure to read our regular story today on Byron Leftwich.) …
Mike
Sep 20, 2007 at 1:54 pm
James, I think he will not be too successful with the Falcons. Garcia had a playoff quality team. Atlanta does not appear to be a very good team at this point.
James
Sep 20, 2007 at 7:56 pm
You can say that again.
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