Tag Archives: tampa bay buccaneers

CFL, NFL

Zemaitis, Alan

do06 zemaitis

Card: Leaf Materials New Generation 2006
Acquired: BB 2014, Target Autographed Memorabilia

Alan Zemaitis played lights out football for the Nittany Lions, despite being in a life threatening car accident in 2003.  At 6’2″, 202 Zemaitis had the perfect size to play a cover 2 system and was a good match for the Buccaneers who selected  him in the 4th Round of the 2006 draft. Considered initially a first round prospect, Alan’s stock slipped after he struggled with poor measurables before the draft.  Tampa viewed him as an eventual replacement for either Brian Kelly or Ronde Barber.

During a rough rookie season, Zemaitis struggled, and then tore his labrum (shoulder muscle) during practice, landing him on injured reserve for the remainder of the year. He recovered for 2007, but was cut in September of that season.  Alan later played in the CFL for the Hamilton Tiger- Cats in 2008.

He’s gone into coaching since his playing days have ended, serving as a positional coach and defensive coordinator at the high school level.

 

NFL

Hall, Rannell ‘Speedy’

hit15 rhallCard: Sage 2015
Acquired: 2015, Box Breaker

A former track man, Rannell Hall distinguished himself at wide receiver with really nice straight line speed and toughness over the middle. He didn’t really separate himself from the competition at receiver until the Senior Bowl, when Rannell was able to showcase his talents. While Hall doesn’t stand out in particular size or hands wise, he made up for it in intangibles such as potential and willingness.

As one of Blake Bortles targets, Hall had respectable outings for the Knights.  His best season came in 2013 with 57 receptions for 886 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Hall is also willing special teams contributor, averaging 25 yards in 82 returns.

Ranell stayed close to home signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the draft. He later was signed to a futures contract with the Cleveland Browns and as of the date of this post had suited up for 1 game.

CFL, NFL, ufl

Garcia, Jeff

poff00 jgarcia
Cards: Playoff Contenders 2000, TNT UFL 2011
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o The St. Louis Rams
Sent: 11/10/15   Received: 1/9/16   (60 days)
Failure: TTM 2012, C/o The Houston Texans. TTM 2014, C/o Home

What a long, windy road it has been for Jeff Garcia.  The righthanded quarterback played for San Jose State from 1991 to 1993.  In 30 career games for the Spartans, Jeff had 6545 yards on 887 attempts, and 48 TD throws. He joined the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL in 1994 backing up legendary Doug Flutie.  He’d get to show his stuff in 1995 after Doug got injured and performed admirably for the team. Jeff always demonstrated this uncanny ability to buy time with his feet. The Stampeders became so comfortable with Garcia at QB, they let Flutie leave and sign with the Argos. Jeff played for Calgary through the 1998 season winning the 86th Grey Cup and the MVP award. Afterwards Garcia decided to take another shot at the NFL- signing with the San Fransisco 49ers.

With the 49ers Jeff was in a similar situation backing up Hall of Famer Steve Young at quarterback. Again, just like in Calgary, Jeff was thrust into the lineup when Steve was injured in 1999. People sort of (and still do) muse about how badly CFL talent translates to the NFL, but Jeff was the exception. He’d go on to earn 3 Pro Bowl appearances in 5 seasons. After being released in 2004, Jeff began the journeyman phase of his career.  He then had stops in Cleveland (2004), Detroit (2005), and Philadelphia (2006) where he led them to a division title in relief of injured Donovan McNabb. In 2007 Garcia was signed by the Buccaneers earning his 4th career Pro Bowl appearance. While playing for the Bucs, he returned them to a level of respectability posting a 14-10 record for the team. He’d be cut by the Bucs and sign with the Raiders for 2009. Frustrated with his role in mentoring Jamarcus Russell, he asked for his release. Garcia was later signed as an insurance, back with the Eagles for roughly two weeks.

tntufl11 jgarciaUnable to find a team for 2010 but still wanting to play, Jeff took a shot with the United Football League. The league was banking on pulling in star power and an extended NFL lockout the following season to help boost their bottom line.  Jeff signed with the Omaha Nighthawks, leading the team to an exciting 27-26 opening day victory over the Hartford Colonials, and the following week a 20-17 win over the Sacramento Mountain Lions.  For his efforts Garcia earned UFL Player of the Week Honors for his comeback victories. The Nighthawks were a pleasant surprise for the league and sold out recently renovated Rentschler Stadium every week of the season.  He did not return to the UFL for 2011.

After an injury to starter Matt Schaub, and then later backup Matt Leinart, Jeff was signed by the Houston Texans along with Jake Delhomme to back up TJ Yates for the final 2 contests of the 2011 NFL season, but did not see any action. As late as 2013 Garcia claimed that he still has the heart and the desire to play.  I tried to get his autograph at that time through the Texans, but I was unable to land him. I then found another address for him in California, and shot out some customs, but again was unable to get his autograph there.

Jeff was signed to be on the advisory board of the ‘New USFL’ and has expressed an interest in working with quarterbacks refining their mechanics. Just like that Jeff was already back in the CFL as a QB coach for the Montreal Allouettes in 2014. In 2015 he joined the St. Louis Rams as an offensive assistant, where I finally got his autograph on these two cards. He is also a noted philanthropist of the sport as well. His brother Aaron is a noted quarterback and coach in Arena Football.

Jeff Garcia is one of these guys that I am really happy to get a response from. Sure a lot of it had to do with persistence, but he’s just so underrated. People just don’t get that there are some players out there that have the heart of a champion and live and love the sport. I think Jeff Garcia embodies it. Jeff will probably never get into the ‘Pro Football Hall of Fame’ which is an absolute crime, because cumulatively, if you add up his statistics from all the leagues he’s played in, Garcia is one of 10 players in football history with more  than 30 TDs in back to back seasons.  Garcia’s accomplishment takes on all the more significance when you realize he did this on the 49ers. It wasn’t Joe Montana, Steve Young, or John Brodie. It was Jeff Garcia. He also has a 99 yard TD to his name (to Andre Davis), and greater than 43000 career passing yards.

CFL     ATT 2024     COMP  1249    YDS  16442    PCT 61.7
TD 111    INT 52       RAT  94.9
RUSH  384   YDS 2358    AVG 6.1    TD 24    LG  46
NFL 131     ATT 3676   COMP 2264    YDS  25537   PCT 61.6
TD 161     INT 83    RAT  87.5
RUSH 468     YDS   2140   AVG  TD 26   LG  33
UFL 8/8     ATT 255     COMP 132      YDS  1321     PCT  51.8
TD 9    INT  11     RAT  88.3
RUSH  24   YDS  68    AVG 2.8   TD 0   LG  14