So let it be with Garcia --11/21/01
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Gosh Jeff Garcia has been looking good out there this season eh? Leading the team, winning from behind, throwing touchdowns - you could almost say he looks like Joe Montana or Steve Young out there the way he takes control of the game. Actually, that is what almost everyone is saying. All the announces, broadcasters, media types and even some fans, keep proclaiming that Garcia is the next Montana, or Young - take your pick.
Granted such a pronouncement is meant to be a compliment, and I understand that, but why can’t Garcia just be Garcia out there. Is it because as a youngster Garcia idolized Montana? Or, is it that the fans won’t let him be his self. I believe it is more of column B then column A in this case, and I think those guilty of this should really consider what they are saying. Joe Montana and Steve Young were two of the best quarterbacks of all time. Any fan would want either of these guys frozen in their primes playing for their team. The 49ers and their fans were blessed in having both of these quarterbacks on one team let alone back to back. But as much as we may want one of these two playing for the 49ers, we must put their careers behind us. Let Jeff Garcia look like Jeff Garcia on the field. Isn’t that good enough? The 4000+ passing yards in a season, the second best passer rating currently in the NFL, the touchdowns, the scrambling, all of it; isn’t it a great compliment to say ‘Garcia looks like himself out there’?
I believe Garcia has earned his stripes. Comparisons between him, Montana and Young should stop. I don’t want to see Garcia try to imitate Montana or Young in order to win a game. Sure he can learn from them, compete against their legends, but when the game is on the line, I want Garcia being no one other than himself - the man who has carried this team to a 7-2 record, on that field.
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