Sammy Garza
Samuel Mayorga Garza Jr. (born July 10, 1965) is a former professional quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) & Canadian Football League (CFL). In a ten-year career, he played for the Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals of the NFL and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Frankfurt Galaxy, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Ottawa Rough Riders of the CFL.
After being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the eighth round of the 1987 NFL Draft, Garza was cut in the pre-season. He then signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a Replacement player. He appeared in two of the replacement games, replacing Shawn Halloran in the first and starting the second. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 183 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.[1] He was cut the following season and replaced by Tom Tupa.
The brightest spot in Garza's career came in 1993 when he replaced an injured Matt Dunigan in Week 17 of the season. He led the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a 20-19 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Final. Garza's success was short lived, as the team lost the Grey Cup 33-23 to the Edmonton Eskimos. Garza tore his ACL early in the 1994 season in Winnipeg, and spent the next 8 months recovering from that injury. He spent the next season splitting the quarterback duties of the Ottawa Rough Riders with Danny Barrett and was David Archer's backup in 1996. He retired after the team folded and he was not picked up in the dispersal draft.
He joined the UTEP coaching staff in 2000 as a quarterbacks coach. He was let go with the entire UTEP staff after the 2003 season. In 2005 he was hired as a scout by the Dallas Cowboys. He works with his brother in law Mike Murphy, son of Canadian Football Hall of Famer Cal Murphy.
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