Leftwich regroups as Steelers backup, in demand again
A year ago, he was a player discarded by two teams. The scouts were saying he was injury-plagued, that his delivery was too deliberate, his throwing motion too much like a pitcher's windup.
Byron Leftwich was a man without a team, a man wondering if he would ever get the chance to start in the NFL again.
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| Byron Leftwich managed to get healthy backing up Ben Roethlisberger. (Getty Images) |
"I never doubted I could start," Leftwich said recently. "Never. That was for other people."
His chance to start is coming again, probably this season.
Spending the 2009 season as a backup quarterback to Ben Roethlisberger with the Pittsburgh Steelers wasn't what Leftwich wanted, but in reality it might be just what his career needed. He got a Super Bowl ring and he got something else:
He became "hot" again. Hard to believe it took being a backup to make that happen.
"It's been great for me as a person and it's been great for me as a player," Leftwich said. "Football is a humbling sport and having the opportunity to not be the guy (starting QB) is a real humbling thing."
As the NFL readies for the open of the free-agency period in a couple of weeks, Leftwich is among the quarterbacks expected to get solid interest from several teams. If Kurt Warner stays in Arizona as expected -- provided he doesn't retire -- Leftwich could get the most attention from quarterback-needy teams.
He's relatively young at 29, has a rocket for an arm, is a good kid and works hard at the task.
Why wouldn't one of the quarterback-depleted teams -- see New York Jets -- take a shot on Leftwich? Would a Jets fans rather have Brett Ratliff, Kellen Clemens or Eric Ainge starting instead of Leftwich? I doubt it.
"I just need that chance," Leftwich said. "I know I can do it."
In the summer of 2007, Leftwich was entering his fifth season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team that picked him in the first round of the NFL Draft in 2003. Despite coming off an injury-shortened season, Leftwich entered training camp as the starter. But nine days before the season opened, Leftwich was released. That was a decision made by coach Jack Del Rio, who had a well-documented personality conflict with his quarterback.
