Goofball Garcia Breaks Through at DE

Brian Garcia is not a particularly talented singer, but that doesn’t stop him from serenading his teammates during practice. Just ask offensive lineman Joe Mujalli.

Mujalli often finds himself in the unfortunate position directly across the line from Garcia when the 245-pound defensive end begins belting out the theme song from the TV cartoon show “Fraggle Rock.”

“Sometimes it gets so loud the offense can’t hear the audibles,” Mujalli says.

Garcia, a senior from Lutz, FL, can always be counted on by his teammates to do the unthinkable.

Throughout his stay at Harvard, Garcia has pulled a number of stunts in the pursuit of a laugh. He once replaced all of the footballs with nerf footballs, periodically rollerblades through the showers and once threw a pie right into the unsuspecting face of teammate Matt Fratto.

Needless to say, Garcia likes to keep the team loose.

“We can be dog tired, covered in mud, getting yelled at by coaches,” Mujalli says, “and Brian will give you a subtle wink or a smile that just makes everyone crack up.”

It is this type of carefree attitude that allowed Garcia to overcome some serious obstacles on his way to becoming one of the best defensive ends in the Ivy League.

As a junior at Tampa Catholic High School, Garcia never envisioned playing college football.

But as his senior year began, the scouts found him.

A number of major football universities in Florida looked at Garcia but all eventually lost interest, leaving him disappointed and unsure of his future. Add to this a disciplinary incident that led to a three-game suspension from his high school team, and Garcia easily could have called it quits on the field.

But he didn’t quit. Soon after his reinstatement to his high school team some other schools took notice of Garcia. After visiting Brown, Princeton and the Naval Academy, he chose Harvard.

“[Harvard] just fit me the best,” Garcia says. “The kids, the atmosphere, everything just made me feel comfortable.”

Unfortunately for Garcia, the comfort he felt on the Harvard campus didn’t immediately translate to the football field.

After playing on the defensive line as well as at linebacker, tight end and fullback in high school, Garcia was placed at defensive end as a freshman.

Then, as a sophomore, the coaches moved Garcia over to the other side of ball, having him spend the majority of his time at tight end.

But a broken foot cut his season short and added to a somewhat strained relationship with the coaching staff.

“There have been times where it’s been a little bumpy road [with the coaches],” Garcia says, “especially in terms of the injuries and switching positions.”

Through all of this he remained positive, and in his junior year Garcia finally broke through. With a settled position at defensive end, Garcia preformed well with increased playing time, recording 31 tackles and one sack.

But even his improved play as a junior couldn’t have prepared him for his rousing success this year, especially after he broke his arm last spring while riding a four-wheeler.

Once again overcoming adversity, Garcia has made his mark this season.

On a team full of talented defensive linemen, he has stood out, recording six-and-a-half sacks—a figure second only to captain Dante Balestracci’s eight.

“He just took it upon himself as a senior to take the next step physically,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy says. “And even that was compromised a little bit by [his] breaking his arm…He’s been a huge asset to us defensively.”

Besides his ability to pressure the quarterback, Garcia possesses athletic ability uncommon amongst defensive linemen.

This athleticism allows Harvard to expand its blitz packages—bringing linebackers and safeties up to rush the quarterback—and relying on Garcia to take their place in pass coverage.

One play in particular exemplifies Garcia’s athletic prowess.

In the fourth quarter against Dartmouth on Nov. 1—an eventual 30-16 loss for the Crimson—Garcia covered Big Green tight end Casey Cramer, who had been scorching the Harvard secondary all day. But Garcia stayed with Cramer and broke up a pass thirty yards downfield.

“[Garcia] is one of those guys we call a ‘big skilled athlete,’” Murphy says. “He’s big and fast and athletic.”

Garcia would like nothing more than to use that athleticism this weekend against Yale, and help Harvard pound the Elis.

Garcia, once again, will be up to the challenge.

“Beating Yale would mean more than anything,” he says. “Just going out a winner, especially with this senior class, would mean the world.”

Even though this will be Brian Garcia’s last game with the Crimson, don’t be surprised if his rendition of the Fraggle Rock theme song remains a constant at practice—Brian’s younger brother Gary is just a sophomore.