Aaron Garcia

Aaron Garcia (born October 20, 1970 in Sacramento, California) is a quarterback in the Arena Football League currently signed to the New York Dragons.

High school career

Garcia is a native of Sacramento, California, and he played high school football with his father as coach at Grant Union High Schooll in Sacramento, California, where he shattered John Elway’s California state high school passing, yardage and touchdown records with a two-year prep total of 5,800 yards and 57 touchdown passes.

College career

He went to Washington State University in 1989, and started as a redshirt freshman, contributing 1,591 yards and 11 TD passes, leading the Pac-10 in passing efficiency that year. During that year, quarterbacking duties also were shared by junior Brad Gossen, who threw for 1,372 yards and nine TDs in an injury shortened season, prior to Garcia being named the starter. In 1990, a mid-season quarterback controversy erupted when second-year coach Mike Price benched veterans Brad Gossen and Aaron Garcia in favor of true-freshman (and eventual NFL star) Drew Bledsoe.

After Drew Bledsoe's emergence at Washington State in 1990, Garcia transferred to Division I-AA Sacramento State and finished his college football career as the starter there, throwing for 1,798 yards and 13 touchdowns in his senior season.

Professional career

Following his college career, he turned to Arena Football. He played for the Arizona Rattlers in 1995, and then moved on to the Connecticut Coyotes in 1996. He'd change teams again in 1997, playing for the New Jersey Red Dogs. He played for the Red Dogs for a year and a half before joining the Iowa Barnstormers during the 1998 season. Garcia finally settled down in Iowa, and found his greatest success when the Barnstormers became the New York Dragons in 2001. In the 2001 season, Garcia threw a league record 104 touchdown passes, but this was passed by Clint Dolezel in 2006.

Garcia briefly left the AFL in 2002, when he was signed by the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. He was released in the summer, and returned to the Dragons, who finished 3-11 that year.

On February 26, 2006, Garcia suffered a fractured tibia and fibula, ending his season. He was replaced by Juston Wood and later Nick Browder. At the time of the injury, Garcia had thrown more touchdown passes than any pro quarterback, but Andy Kelly and Clint Dolezel moved ahead of him while he was sidelined.

On June 2, 2007, he became the fourth quarterback in AFL history to throw 800 touchdowns, joining Clint Dolezel, Sherdrick Bonner, and Andy Kelly.

Career Stats

Year	Team	Comp	ATT	%	YDS	TD	INT	QB Rat.
1995	Arizona Rattlers	175	284	61.62	2,416	43	8	114.99
1996	Connecticut Coyotes	136	271	50.18	1,779	31	4	93.70
1997	New Jersey Red Dogs	76	138	55.07	950	16	7	84.51
1998	New Jersey Red Dogs	91	140	65.00	1,158	18	5	107.98
1998	Iowa Barnstormers	200	343	58.31	2,457	43	9	100.93
1999	Iowa Barnstormers	283	468	60.47	3,815	68	15	109.41
2000	Iowa Barnstormers	270	466	57.94	4,026	92	8	118.79
2001	New York Dragons	368	529	69.57	4,515	104	16	122.60
2002	New York Dragons	112	188	59.57	1,390	29	9	101.15
2003	New York Dragons	329	513	64.13	4,279	100	10	121.74
2004	New York Dragons	279	459	60.78	3,797	91	13	114.99
2005	New York Dragons	345	516	66.86	4,112	90	13	120.09
2006	New York Dragons	121	157	77.07	1,417	32	4	132.88
2007	New York Dragons	149	227	65.6	1,724	46	4	120.67
Career		2,934	4,699	62.4	37,835	803	125	116.16

External links

• Stats at ArenaFan