Eddie Garcia

Edgar Ivan Garcia (April 15, 1960 – June 5, 2025) was an American professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the SMU Mustangs, earning second-team All-American honors in 1981. Garcia was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 10th round of the 1982 NFL draft. He played two seasons for the Packers, before two brief stints with the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Early life and college career Garcia was born on April 15, 1960, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He moved to Dallas, Texas, as a child and grew up playing soccer. He attended Wilson High School where he played football as a soccer-style placekicker.

As a sophomore in 1979, Garcia was the Mustangs' leading scorer with 50 points, converting 8 of 14 field goal attempts and 24 of 26 extra points. He was the team's scoring leader again in 1980 with 57 points, after converting 11 of 21 field goals and 34 of 34 extra points. He also led the Southwest Conference (SWC) in scoring in 1980. Garcia was second in the SWC in scoring that season, behind his teammate Eric Dickerson. He concluded his collegiate career with an SMU-record 44 field goals made, as well as 130 extra points; he remains fifth in school history in points as of 2024.

Garcia graduated from SMU's Cox School of Business in 1982 with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA). Garcia initially made the team's final roster along with Stenerud, but he suffered a groin injury and was placed on injured reserve on September 15, ending his season without having appeared in a game.

The next season, Garcia battled the 40-year-old Stenerud for the Packers' kicking job. Garcia made a 55-yard field goal in preseason, setting the then-record for longest kick at Lambeau Field, and the Packers decided to keep both kickers. In the fifth game of the season, he replaced Stenerud for kickoffs, while Stenerud remained the kicker for field goals and extra points. Garcia ended up playing in 12 games during the 1983 season, solely being used on kickoffs. In the first game of the 1984 season, he made one of two field goals and all three extra points. However, he struggled in subsequent games, missing his only field goal attempt in week 3 and missing both a field goal and an extra point in week 4. He then made two of three field goals against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including a career long 51-yarder, as well as all three extra point attempts. After missing both field goal attempts in a 17–14 loss to the Denver Broncos in week 7, he was placed on injured reserve and replaced by Al Del Greco. Garcia was released on November 13, concluding the 1984 season having made only three of nine field goal attempts, as well as 14 of 15 extra point attempts, in seven games played.

Garcia signed with the Miami Dolphins on March 20, 1985, but was released prior to the regular season, on August 26, 1985, Garcia was also briefly a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being released in August 1986.

Later life and death Garcia met his wife, Jill, while playing with the Packers, and had two daughters with her. He retired after his stint with the Buccaneers and worked briefly for Texas Instruments before joining the Oshkosh Corporation. He worked in marketing and sales in the Oshkosh Corporation's defense division; according to his obituary in the Green Bay Press-Gazette, it "was often joked that Eddie could sell ice to a penguin in relation to his sales talents". He helped organize the corporation's Packers Military Appreciation Game and after retiring from Oshkosh, served on the Packers Board of Directors for the sales and marketing committee. Garcia died on June 5, 2025, at the age of 65.