Childhood & Early Life
Byron Antron Leftwich was born on January 14, 1980, in Washington D.C., USA. His father abandoned the family when he was a baby. It was left up to his mother, Brenda to bring him and his brother Kevin up.
He became a letterman at the Howard Dilworth Woodson High School. He played football, baseball, and basketball. He then joined Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
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Career
Byron Leftwich started his college football career in ‘Marshall University’. He started by caddying for teammate Chad Pennington. In 2000, he took over as the starting quarterback.
As part of the Marshall University Thundering Herd, he went on to complete 939 of 1442 passes and score 89 touchdowns. In 2001 and 2002, he was named ‘MAC Most Valuable Player’. In both the years, he was also won ‘MAC Offensive Player of the Year’ awards.
Byron Leftwich joined the ‘Jacksonville Jaguars’ in 2003. He was the seventh overall draft in the ‘2003 NFL Draft’. He remained with the team for four seasons from 2003 to 2007.
In his first year (2003) with the ‘Jacksonville Jaguars’, Leftwich completed 57.2% of passes and scored 14 touchdowns and was involved in 16 interceptions.
In 2004, he scored 15 touchdowns, competed 60.5% passes, and had 10 interceptions.
During his third season (2005), with the ‘Jacksonville Jaguars’, Byron Leftwich completed 57.9% passes and scored 15 touchdowns. He ended the fourth season (2006), with 59% passes and 7 touchdowns. He was cut from the team on September 1, 2007.
Leftwich’s next NFL team was the ‘Atlanta Falcons’. He signed a two-year deal on September 18, 2007. He started the 2007 season in week 5, but suffered an ankle injury two weeks later. He was let go on February 15, 2008.
After a disappointing 2007 season, Byron Leftwich signed a one-year deal with the ‘Pittsburgh Steelers’ on August 10, 2008. He started as a backup to Ben Roethlisberger. He played in five games, completed 58.3% passes, and scored 2 touchdowns. He also earned his ‘Super Bowl’ ring as a backup in ‘Super Bowl XLIII’.
On April 12, 2009, Byron signed a two-year contract with the ‘Tampa Bay Buccaneers’. He was initially the team’s starter quarterback in August but was benched in September after a disappointing performance.
On November 24, 2009, Leftwich was placed on the injured reserve list for the ‘Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ after an elbow injury. This ended his time with the team as he was traded to the ‘Pittsburgh Steelers’ again on April 20, 2010.
Byron Leftwich’s second stint with the ‘Pittsburgh Steelers’ was tumultuous. He was cut from the team on September 18, 2010, after suffering an injury in the preseason finale. On September 20, he was re-signed again after quarterback Dennis Dixon was injured.
In the 2010 season for the ‘Pittsburgh Steelers’, Byron played a few games. In 2011, he broke his arm in a preseason game against the ‘Atlanta Falcons’. He ended up on the injured reserve list and missed the entire season. He re-signed with them in April 2012.
He ended his playing career with the ‘Pittsburgh Steelers’ in 2012, after suffering a broken rib in a game against the ‘Baltimore Ravens’. He completed 47.2% passes in his final season.
Byron Leftwich joined the ‘Arizona Cardinals’ on May 9, 2016, as a coaching intern. He was hired officially as their ‘quarterbacks coach’ on January 27, 2017.
He replaced Mike McCoy as the offensive coordinator for the ‘Arizona Cardinals’ on October 19, 2018. He was fired from the position on December 31, 2018, after a disappointing season.
On January 8, 2019, it was announced that Byron Leftwich was joining the ‘Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ under head coach Bruce Arians. He is the only black offensive coordinator in ‘NFL’ for the 2019 season.
