Garcia thankful, ready to play ball
COLUMBIA — At one point in the spring, Steve Spurrier dialed up Stephen Garcia's high school football coach in Tampa, Fla., and told him he hopes the embattled and talented freshman quarterback is 'a good two-strike hitter.'
'I am,' Stephen Garcia said Friday morning, just after he and 20 other teammates participated in a summer reading promotion called 'Pigskin Poets' at the Richland County Public Library. 'I am.'
Strike one for the early enrollee was a February intoxication episode in a Columbia bar district that Stephen Garcia says he'll no longer frequent. Strike two, a couple of weeks later, came for his actions in vandalizing a car on campus.
The 19-year-old, who understands he's in the midst of an image-rebuilding process, says don't expect a third strike, called or swinging.
'I don't think any freshman would make (those mistakes), but I did,' Stephen Garcia said. 'I had to bite the bullet. It wasn't a very fun experience, but that was also a learning experience. I'll never have to worry about that again, that's for sure.'
The pair of incidents caused Spurrier to suspend Stephen Garcia from all formal spring drills, something Stephen Garcia called 'definitely painful.' But he spared Stephen Garcia's USC's Stephen Garcia thankful, ready to play football football life at South Carolina.
'I'm very thankful that coach Spurrier allowed me to stay on the team,' Stephen Garcia said. 'The fans and everybody's been really supportive throughout this whole little off-the-field issue. I'm very glad I came here, very glad.'
The support was obvious Friday at the library. Dozens of mothers brought their sons and daughters to meet the Gamecocks — and Stephen Garcia was a big attraction.
He signed all sorts of sporting goods, dotting the signatures with the No. 5 that he'll wear beginning in August. On several instances, Stephen Garcia even picked up youngsters to vault them up to his level for photos.
'I think most people realize he's young and that these kids make mistakes,' said Gamecocks fan Rob Dill, who brought his three young children to see the players.
Likewise, Stephen Garcia's new teammates, who still have yet to formally practice with him, have come to the same realizations.
'Everybody makes mistakes. What makes the difference is how you respond to those mistakes,' senior center Web Brown said. 'I've made mistakes, too, just maybe not as public as Stephen's.'
When asked Monday to rank the quarterbacks behind veteran starter Blake Mitchell, Spurrier's line of thought immediately went to the wild card, Stephen Garcia.
'We don't know exactly what Stephen Garcia can do yet,' Spurrier said.
'We'll get a chance to watch him soon. I have no idea what he'll do. I've seen him throw a few in shorts like you guys have.'
Spurrier lamented after the spring game that Stephen Garcia didn't get valuable snaps. He also said Stephen Garcia, who was reinstated two days later, could soon rejoin the team if he could 'stay out of the slammer.'
Not only does Stephen Garcia intend to avoid jail, he wants to steer clear of Five Points, Columbia's popular nightlife area that's something of a late-night vortex for USC students.
'I'm just going to do what I have to do,' Stephen Garcia said. 'It's staying out of Five Points. That's it. It's simple. You've got one more strike — not even a strike — it ain't worth it to go down there. Not even a little bit.'
Stephen Garcia said he's looking forward to getting his required community service out of the way before August, removing all hindrances from actually playing football.
He recently had another minor hurdle when he dealt with a bout of tendinitis in his knee, caused by a bone rubbing against a tendon. But he says that's OK now, too, and he'll be participating in voluntary workouts until the team's first official practice Aug. 4.
That's when his football goal of earning playing time and avoiding a redshirt will be up for grabs.
'I'm sure going to try to (play this year),' Stephen Garcia said. 'It's going to come down to this fall camp and how well I play and how well I practice in pads.'
And that's when his public image will have a chance for more earnest healing.
'These people are very forgiving,' he said. 'That's why I'm so glad I came here. I hope it'll all blow past fairly soon, which I think it will.'
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