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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Wednesday, October 21, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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No stardust in Garrard's
eyes
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
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David Garrard |
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(Photo:
Jacksonville Jaguars) |
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Former Pirate
quarterback David
Garrard was back on the
East Carolina sidelines
on Saturday.
The Jacksonville Jaguars
had a bye this past
weekend. Garrard could
have been anywhere in
the world, yet he and
his wife Mary were back
in town for Hall of Fame
and Letterwinners
Weekend.
I’ve written about my
first interview with
David Garrard before. It
was after the spring
game that year. I
couldn’t believe what a
nice young man Garrard
was way back then.
I
thoroughly enjoyed
Garrard's
years at ECU. I
especially enjoy
catching up with him
when he returns to
Greenville.
Garrard compared his own
Jaguars team to East
Carolina. Both have had
their ups and downs this
season.
“Just like college
football — you just never
know what you’re going
to get sometimes,” said
Garrard. “We’ve had some
key injuries. We’re
getting guys back now.
We’re coming off a big
win so I think this
season is really
starting to go our way.”
Garrard is coming off
his best season to date.
He isn’t just a player
in the NFL. Rather, he is
now one of the league’s
best at the glamour
position of quarterback.
“I have a lot of
commentators like John
Madden and Bryant Gumbel,
they say that I’m one of
the best quarterbacks in
the league, but you’re
not mentioned in the top
five or six," noted
Garrard. "But to me,
that’s awesome that my
name is even mentioned
in the top ten. It’s
pretty cool.”
Garrard certainly
doesn’t act like one of
the NFL’s biggest stars.
He talked and shook
hands with everyone on
the sideline.
Garrard
inked a new contract
earlier this year and
should be set for life.
Still, he hasn’t let the
stardom or the money go
to his head.
“I always told myself,
even when I was in high
school," Garrard
recalled, "that if I ever
made it in college or in
the NFL, that I would
always be the same guy.
"I
just want to be the same
person. It’s really
easy. I have a great
wife (Mary, a tennis letterwinner in her days
at ECU) who will always
keep me humble. I don’t
want to be somebody that
I’m not. I don’t want to
be phony. That’s just
not who I am.”
The Jags are 3-3 in the
AFC South. Tennessee,
led by former Pirate
Chris Johnson, is in
first place at 6-0. The
Titans beat Garrard’s
Jags in week one, 17-10,
in Nashville. The next
“Pirate Bowl” is set for
November 16th in
Jacksonville.
News and Notes
———
East Carolina receiver
Dwayne Harris says he
will be able to play
against Central Florida a week from
this Sunday. Harris has
struggled a bit with a
bum shoulder for some
time now.
“They told me it was a
minor separation,” said
Harris. “It was already
hurting for a couple of
weeks but we just kept
it wrapped and tried not
to make it worse. I’ll
be alright. I’ll be back
for UCF.”
——— East Carolina
wrapped up the fall
baseball season this
past weekend. Thursday’s
weather was absolutely
perfect. Coach Billy
Godwin and I joked that
we wouldn’t see a day
like that for Pirate
baseball until May!
Where was that weather
on Saturday for the
football game? Godwin
seemed pleased with his
team’s play in the fall.
“Scrimmages are tough,”
he said. “If you hit it
well, it makes you
wonder if your pitching
is okay. And, if you pitch
it well, you wonder if
your hitters are getting
the job done. This,
though, was a great
combination of
everything. The guys
worked hard."
BB
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10/21/2008 01:58:00 AM |
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