David Garrard: Is This the Start of the 2007 NFL Season All Over Again?

Almost four years ago to the day, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio looked into a crowded room and announced the team had released started quarterback Byron Leftwich and had named David Garrard as the new leader of the franchise.

At the time, the move, although curious, appeared to be the right one for a team that looked ready to challenge Indianapolis for supremacy in the AFC South.

Fast forward two days ago and Jack Del Rio looked into a crowded room and announced that Garrard would be released from the team and that he was looking to Luke McCown to start the first game of the season and lead the much-maligned team against the Tennessee Titans.

It is without a doubt a curious tale of how a head coach can be embroiled in two quarterback controversies that have caused a mediocre team to be the focal point of everything associated with the start of the NFL season.

Take away the fact that Peyton Manning will not play on Sunday. Take away the fact that Cam Newton will lead the Carolina Panthers. Take away the idea that many free agents have changed clubs and the season starts without Terrell Owens on an NFL roster.

All eyes the past three days have been on Jacksonville and how this all came to be and who should the finger be pointed at as to who really made the decision to make the change and whether or not there were eight million reasons to release the 10-year veteran.

After everyone in Florida had a chance to digest what happened, the move is now being dissected like a high school biology project. Did the Jaguars make the right move? Did Del Rio make the decision to release Garrard, the man he hand-picked to lead his offense, or did general manger Gene Smith have the final say so.

"I have no one to blame but myself," Garrard told the Florida Times-Union on Wednesday in his first statement made after he was told that he would be released.

Garrard said he was doing well in practice but it did not translate to progress on the field. The East Carolina product had a back injury during training camp that kept him out of the first two preseason games and has a history of back issues as a pro.

What sticks in most people's minds is that Del Rio had stated over and over again throughout the preseason that Garrard was the team's starter and that Blaine Gabbert was the third-string quarterback in the final preseason game against the Rams; the rookie appeared to be headed for that role starting the regular season.

But according to reports, that all changed Monday when practice was one of the worst Del Rio had seen and he asked Smith and team owner Wayne Weaver if in fact he could release Garrard.

"Sometimes it just doesn't fall the way you'd like it to in terms of timelines and things you have commitments to. From that standpoint, I would prefer it have gone down differently," Del Rio told the Times-Union.

"You deal with things as you have to. We took that one to the last possible minute because it was something that we continued to hold out hope for."

Back in 2007, Garrard was named the starter nine days before the NFL season got underway and Leftwich was released.

For fans, the news spread like wildfire. For most there was shock about the decision, while others saw it as an opportunity to eventually see if Gabbert can move this team forward. Gabbert, the 10th pick in this April's draft, did not show enough to wrestle the starting job away from either Garrard or McCown.

Gabbert will now be the backup until he is ready to take over under center.