South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia Wastes Opportunity of a Lifetime

Very few people in this country get the opportunity to lead a top-ranked college program to glory and experience the journey along the way. The problem for quarterback Stephen Garcia wasn't that he didn't have the tools to do so. The problem was that he squandered them.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Garcia was dismissed from the South Carolina Gamecocks and, according to Travis Haney of The Oklahoman, it was because he failed an alcohol test.

There were few quarterbacks in college football who received more second chances than Garcia did during his time at South Carolina. But for every second chance he was granted, he tossed it away just as fast. And I don't mean on the football field.

In Garcia's very first semester in the spring of 2007, he was suspended twice from practice after being arrested for public intoxication in February and, yes, keying a professor's car in March. And in March 2008, Garcia and two teammates were arrested for underrage drinking.

His actions led to him being suspended from the university.

But the Garcia Saga wasn't over. Garcia was reinstated as a redshirt freshman in 2008, proceeding to pick up an SEC Freshman of the Week award despite only three starts.

For the next two seasons, Garcia largely stayed out of trouble, appearing to get past his early transgressions.

Then, as a senior, he began acting like a freshman again. In April, South Carolina once again announced it had suspended Garcia. Garcia admitted that he drank alcohol before an SEC-mandated meeting that encouraged good life choices through college (which, unfortunately, wasn't a surprise at that point).

Once again, Garcia was reinstated and was given an opportunity to lead the Gamecocks again. And once again, Garcia failed to be the leader he was expected to be.

The saddest part about Garcia's tenure at South Carolina was that he had the ability to be a very special player for the university, one people could look bad fondly on. He became the third quarterback in school history to throw for more than 7,500 yards in a career, and he also ranks third all-time in pass completions and passing touchdowns.

But you can only get so many second chances before you need to learn from them. Garcia never did this.

Perhaps the final straw will be the biggest lesson of them all.