JACKSONVILLE COACH DEL RIO PUTS AN END TO QB GARRARD’S RADIO SHOW

Jacksonville Jaguars’ quarterback David Garrard meant well when he agreed to host a weekly radio show.  He figured it would be a chance to interact more personally with fans of the NFL team, give away some tickets and generally create some positive publicity for both him and the franchise.  Unfortunately, Jaguars’ head coach Jack Del Rio thought otherwise—citing the scheduling of the show on Friday night, he told his quarterback to put his broadcasting aspirations on hold.  He complied, and the show went off the air after only three weeks.

For his part, Del Rio was left scratching his head over why his quarterback had agreed to do a show just 48 hours before games:

"Less than 48 hours away from the game, it's not even a question. I don't even understand how anybody could ever advise somebody to think about doing something like that. It makes no sense."

Del Rio found out about Garrard’s show by accident—he was scanning the AM radio dial when he came upon it by accident.  Garrard took Del Rio’s edict in the spirit which it was handed down:

"He said, 'As a father figure, I'm just trying to tell you this isn't good late in the week like this. You can field things early in the week and ... rehash the past game. But late in the week, you want to be studying your film, you want to be with your family and you want to be off your feet, relaxing.' I totally understand where he's coming from."

In addition to the precedent—no quarterback in the league has a radio show so late in the week—Garrard has a stipulation in his contract with the Jaguars that all such media outlets need to be approved by the NFL team.  Del Rio stressed that it wasn’t the substance of the show that he had a gripe with, only the timing of the broadcast at a point in the week when a NFL quarterback should be focusing on the game ahead:

"I've let my feelings be known to David about what's most important late in the week. It's very important for us as a football team to, when you're less than 48 hours from the game, to make sure your attention is on the game, your focus is on the game. If you're not studying film, you ought to be relaxing with the family. So, those are my thoughts. I conveyed them to him."

Garrard has had an up and down season so far—he’s thrown the ball well and minimized his mistakes, but he’s also been sacked five times.  The 1-2 Jaguars will be in action this weekend hosting the Tennessee Titans before a road game against the Seattle Seahawks the following week.