TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' extended quarterback derby is over. Byron Leftwich will start the Sept. 13 season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
First-year Bucs coach Raheem Morris selected Leftwich over Luke McCown on Saturday, saying the seventh-year pro held an edge going into training camp and retained it with steady -- if unspectacular -- play through three preseason games.
Byron Leftwich, QB Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Career Statistics
Completion Pct.: 58.6
Passing Yards: 9,624
TD/INT: 54/38
"I'm very excited. When I get home, I'll probably scream and let all my emotions out," said Leftwich, who's with his third NFL team in three seasons after the Jacksonville Jaguars unceremoniously dumped him. "To work my tail off to get back to this point again -- to be a starter (in) Week 1 -- is what I wanted, and I'm going to take full advantage of it."
Morris had hoped to decide between Leftwich and McCown, a career backup, before the third preseason game. However, Morris extended the competition after McCown closed the gap with a stronger performance in the second game. Although neither quarterback sparkled in Thursday's 10-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Leftwich did enough to win the job.
"We're going to run the ball," Morris said. "We want to be a heavy play-action team. That kind of fits the mold of what he does -- play action, throwing the ball down the field, trying to generate big plays.
"That's what he showed he can do in the preseason. ... That's what he's shown in the offseason -- having a big-time arm to throw it down the field consistently."
A first-round draft pick by the Jaguars in 2003, Leftwich is 24-22 as a starter. He started two games for the Atlanta Falcons after being released by the Jaguars late in training camp two years ago, then won a Super Bowl ring as Ben Roethlisberger's backup with the Pittsburgh Steelers last season.
The oft-injured Leftwich, who has thrown for 9,624 yards and 54 touchdowns in six NFL seasons, never gave up hope on becoming a starter again. He signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in April and immediately established a strong presence in the locker room and on the practice field.
"I've been a quarterback my whole life," Leftwich said. "I think I understand what it takes to play the quarterback position. I think I understand the game well enough to always give my team a chance to win games.
"Every leader has got to be able to make plays. That's what it ultimately comes down to. I believe those guys saw me make enough plays in the games, and throughout OTAs and training camp, that they respect and believe I can get the job done."
McCown, who's 1-6 as a starter in five seasons with the Cleveland Browns and the Bucs, believed he had the best training camp of his career. Though disappointed with Morris' decision, McCown pledged to do everything he can as a backup to help Leftwich be successful.
"That's the role I'm asked to play right now," McCown said. "I don't have to agree with it. But for as long as I'll be a Buccaneer, I'm going to do everything I can to help this organization win. That's my focus."
Now that Byron Leftwich is the starter, what will the Bucs do with their other three QBs? They might keep all of them, a team source told Jason La Canfora. More ... There has been speculation that the loser of the race might be traded. However, McCown made it clear that his wish is to remain with the Bucs, who are grooming first-round pick Josh Freeman as their quarterback of the future.
Morris likes second-year pro Josh Johnson, too, and raised the possibility Saturday of carrying four quarterbacks into the regular season.
"I'm going to keep the best players on this team," Morris said. "I've been saying that from the beginning. I'm going to keep the best 53.
"Josh Johnson's showed a lot savvy, a lot of poise. If Freeman is going to be your leader of this football team, you want to have a young guy like Josh around. ... Is he one of my best 53? Probably."
Morris said the selection of a starter was based on the body of work that Leftwich compiled beginning with offseason workouts, rather than anything McCown didn't do. The coach insisted that he would have been comfortable with either player winding up No. 1.
"We saw an aggressive Luke McCown throughout this camp," Morris said. "The guys used to pick with him all the time, called him 'Checkdown McCown.' And he wasn't that. He was far from that. He was a competitor. He took calculated chances and he had some success doing that."
Morris shrugged off a question about how committed he might be to Leftwich, considering the close competition for the starting job and the fact that Freeman is waiting in the wings, too.
"I'm not going to sit here and talk about failure with a man we just picked today," Morris said. "I've got to give him a chance. I've got to believe in him."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
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