National Football League

Pivotal season for Jags in Jacksonville

Published Aug. 27, 2010 8:28 p.m. ET

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Alex Marvez

His team had lost its bite.

David Garrard didn’t need statistics to know the Jacksonville Jaguars had the NFL’s lowest home attendance in 2009. The quarterback experienced such apathy firsthand when playing in front of crowds that seemed even smaller than the 40,000 average.

“There were a few times we’d come out and there would be nobody in the stands,” Garrard told FOXSports.com on Wednesday inside the newly renamed EverBank Stadium. “You’re thinking, ‘Geez, what are we out here for if none of our fans are going to come and watch us?’”

For at least the short term, that problem was addressed this offseason. A marketing blitz and warnings about the franchise’s long-term viability in Jacksonville led to a ticket-sale spike, temporarily alleviating fears of an imminent relocation to a larger area like Los Angeles.

The rest now falls onto Garrard and his teammates.

Calling this Jacksonville’s most important season since entering the NFL in 1995 isn’t hyperbole. A Super Bowl appearance isn’t needed or even expected, but the Jaguars must at least justify the renewed enthusiasm surrounding the team through a playoff run and/or more entertaining on-field product than the past two years. Speaking to the Jacksonville Daily Record business newspaper, Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver described his recent squads as “average — and average is just not good enough.”

“The franchise is at a point where we’ve got to do something,” Garrard said. “It puts a little pressure on you but in a good way. You know that you have a chance to turn things around and make it a big year.”

Otherwise, local momentum — as well as the jobs held by Garrard and head coach Jack Del Rio — will be lost.

“The two of us are tied (together),” Del Rio said. “We’re the ones who get wins and losses put by our name. They don’t have won-loss record for a defensive tackle or wide receiver. We understand all that.”

Del Rio said the team’s top offseason priority was to better Garrard’s protection and the defensive pass rush, which are two areas that contributed to last year’s late swoon. Garrard wasn’t just sacked 42 times. By general manager Gene Smith’s count, Garrard was hit an NFL-high 126 times overall. The Jaguars also produced a league-low 14 sacks, creating a ratio that Del Rio describes as “horrible” and spurring the offseason acquisition of veteran defensive end Aaron Kampman and 2010 first-round pick Tyson Alualu at defensive tackle.

Garrard isn’t just hoping for improvement by his supporting cast. He’s demanding it.

“I’ve always been a lead-by-example guy,” said the affable Garrard, who replaced Byron Leftwich with Jacksonville’s first-team offense in 2007. “This year, I wanted to make sure I voiced my opinion more and was being heard when we were lifting weights, running or going over plays on the field. If something wasn’t going right, I would step up and say something or pull someone to the side and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to need more than what we’re getting.’ Really challenging guys on a whole other level and not just letting guys go through the motions.”

Del Rio is feeling the same heat as Garrard. The Jaguars have only two playoff appearances and one postseason victory in eight years under his watch. Del Rio, though, feels invigorated from the positive vibe created by the franchise’s off-field initiatives.

Along with Jacksonville’s two home preseason contests, Jaguars senior vice president sales/marketing Macky Weaver said he expects the first five regular-season games to sell out and is cautiously optimistic about the final three. That stands in stark contrast to 2009 when all but one Jaguars home game was blacked out locally.

From a business standpoint, the EverBank naming rights deal is worth $16 million over the next five seasons and sent a message that the Jaguars aren’t short-timers in one of the NFL’s smallest markets.

“I was having to answer questions like, ‘Why don’t we have a name on our stadium?’ and all kinds of silly things like that,” Del Rio said. “To have those kind of (positive) things happen within our community, that gives you a little boost. It lifted spirits both in the front office and the player/coaching side.”

Jaguars players did their part to stir excitement with a whopping 371 community appearances through the “Team Teal” initiative. The attention that drew as well as charity acts — for example, tight end Ernest Wilford cutting his dreadlocks to hearten cancer patients at a children’s hospital — helped erase the negative stigma that lingered from a slew of 2007 and 2008 player arrests.

“It does make a difference,” said Macky Weaver, the nephew of the Jaguars’ owner. “You’ve got a certain amount of diehard fans and another group that’s casual fans. Things like that impact that casual fan’s decision whether to buy or not buy.”

So do marquee players, which are something the Jaguars sorely lack outside of running back Maurice Jones-Drew. One easy fix could have come through the selection of University of Florida quarterback and Jacksonville native Tim Tebow with the draft’s No. 10 pick instead of the lesser-known Alualu. Tebow’s arrival would have easily lifted Jacksonville to its goal of 50,000 season-ticket holders (the franchise currently stands at 43,000). Instead, the only chance Jaguars fans will have the chance to see Tebow at home will be for the opposition in the Sept. 12 season-opener against Denver.

Macky Weaver, though, doesn’t begrudge Smith’s decision to choose the best player he felt was available.

“It’s about the team, not about who the actual players are,” Weaver said of his franchise’s ticket marketing plan. “Obviously, they’re important to help you win. But at the end of the day, it’s about the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“That’s the message we’ve got to continue to preach and have done a lot relative to the Tebow thing. He went to one of the best situations you could have wanted with a quarterback-focused head coach and a good quarterback in front of him to allow him time to develop and not be forced in. You would have hated what would have happened had he come here and David struggled and all of sudden the crowd (turned). ...  It wouldn’t have been good for him. You look at guys around the league forced in too early that ruined their careers.”

A young roster overhauled by Smith over the past two years will now have its own chance for stardom and generating fan support. Starting cornerback Rashean Mathis is a Jacksonville native who sold concessions at Jaguars home games while in high school. He doesn’t want to envision his city without an NFL franchise.

“The city pretty much thrives off this team,” Mathis said. “If the team wasn’t here, there would be a lot of jobs lost. It would hurt too many homes in the city. We need to recognize that.”

Garrard definitely sees the big picture. He can only hope that his teammates have the same sense of urgency.

“We have to do it to keep our jobs,” Garrard said. “We have to do it to keep our city into this team.”

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