Former South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia is starting chemotherapy to fight Stage 4 colorectal cancer, he said Thursday in a social media post.
A starter for the Gamecocks from 2008-11, the 38-year-old Garcia and his wife, Maria, revealed his medical team opted for the most aggressive form of treatment to combat the diagnosis.
“We have a great team of doctors and staff that’s confident we can beat this! It’s the only option,” Stephen Garcia said in a Facebook post. “We got this, and we appreciate you all.”
Garcia had a 20-14 record as South Carolina’s starting quarterback and appeared in 40 games with 47 touchdown passes and 7,597 passing yards in his career. He also rushed 329 times for 777 yards and 15 TDs and caught one touchdown pass.
Garcia led the Gamecocks to wins over No. 1-ranked Alabama and a sweep of rivals Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee for the first time in program history in 2010. South Carolina claimed the SEC East title and its only appearance in the league championship game. Garcia returned to lofty expectations as a senior.
But off-field issues that had led to multiple suspensions resurfaced in 2011. Garcia was dismissed from the program after five games for failure to comply with terms of his reinstatement from previous suspensions.
