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Leftwich stuck in limbo

Former first-round draft pick struggling to find a job

Originally published 04:30 a.m., June 24, 2008, updated 11:14 a.m., June 24, 2008

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Byron Leftwich lives in Atlanta, trains in South Florida and spends most weekends back home in the D.C. area. He has several places to hang his hat. But right now he has nowhere to hang his helmet.

With NFL training camps starting within a month, the former quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars and, briefly, the Atlanta Falcons, remains a free agent. It's a sudden and unusual turn. Only 28, Leftwich was a starter one minute, unemployed the next.

"It went from so good to so bad real quick," he said.

Leftwich played three sports at H.D. Woodson High School in Northeast and became a star at Marshall in West Virginia. The Jaguars took Leftwich seventh in the 2003 draft, the next quarterback taken after No. 1 pick Carson Palmer. As a rookie, he replaced the injured Mark Brunell and produced good numbers. He was better the next year and better still in 2005, when the Jaguars made the playoffs.

But he got hurt late that season, and injuries, specifically lower leg injuries, became the major issue. At 6-foot-5, 250-pounds with limited mobility, Leftwich was an easy target.

"I [went from] the toughest guy in the NFL to the most injury prone," he said in a telephone interview last week from his Atlanta home.

Leftwich was taking a week-long break from his daily 3 1/2-hour workout regimen at a high-tech training facility near Miami. NFL stars Plaxico Burress, Frank Gore, Anquan Boldin and good friend and former Jaguars teammate Fred Taylor have been among those working alongside. He said he has lost 25 pounds.

"If I put on a No. 81 jersey, people will think I'm Randy Moss," he said.

His coach at Marshall, Bob Pruett, now an assistant at Virginia, called Leftwich "the most positive guy I've ever been around." Even with his once-promising career stuck in limbo, Leftwich said he is going to make a comeback worthy of Seabiscuit.

"I believe in myself," he said. "I've got confidence in myself. I won't allow this to start second-guessing my ability. These types of things happen, man. You've got to stand up and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know I can play the game of football. I'm not gonna let nobody tell me I can't."