Chase Garbers (born June 6, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

San Antonio Brahmas The San Antonio Brahmas are a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. History The XF ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the California Golden Bears.

Early years

Garbers attended

Corona del Mar High School Corona del Mar High School (CdM) is a public school located in the Eastbluff neighborhood of Newport Beach, California, and belongs to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. It is a combination of a middle school (7th and 8th grades) and a ...

in Newport Beach, California. He was the full-time starting quarterback in his 2015 junior and 2016 senior campaigns, earning Daily Pilot Dream Team Player of the Year and first-team All-Pacific Coast League honors in both years, while he was also his conference MVP as a senior. Over his high school career, Garbers had a combined 589-of-854 (69.0%) passes for 7,970 yards with 90 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a 129.1 quarterback rating. Garbers was listed as four-star recruit, ranked No. 12 pro-style quarterback and No. 315 overall prospect in the country for the 2017 class.

College career

In 2016, Garbers committed to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his first year at

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 2017. Garbers graduated with a B.A. in Political Economy in May 2021, then went on to earn a

graduate certificate A graduate certificate is an educational credential representing completion of specialized training at the college or university level. A graduate certificate can be awarded by universities upon completion of certain coursework indicating masteri ...

in business administration in December 2021.

2018 season

In 2018, Garbers shared Cal's starting quarterback position with Brandon McIlwain in a two-quarterback system, though Garbers started the majority of the season. In his first career start, Garbers completed 18 of 28 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns against

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

. Garbers led the Bears to their first victory against USC since 2003, winning 15-14 on the road. Garbers threw for 93 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another touchdown after falling behind 0-14 in the first half. The Bears finished the 2018 season with a 7–6 record, including a loss at the Cheez-It Bowl against the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

. Struggling to find a rhythm on offense, the Bears' offensive efficiency ranked as the second worst among all Power Five teams. Garbers finished the season with 14 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and 1,506 yards passing.

2019 season

In 2019, Garbers was named Cal's starting quarterback. He helped lead the Bears to a 4–0 start to the season, including a 20–19 upset win against No. 14 ranked

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, earning the Bears a No. 15 ranking, their highest since 2009. Garbers had career highs in completions, yards passing, and touchdown passes in the Ole Miss game with 23-of-35 passes for 357 yards with four touchdown throws. Garbers suffered a broken collarbone during the

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

game that sidelined him for the next five games, four of which were losses. He returned briefly for the USC game, but sustained a concussion close to the end of the first half. Garbers returned to lead the Bears to a 24–20 win against Stanford in the Big Game, the first Big Game win for Cal since 2009. Garbers ran for a 16-yard game-winning touchdown, earning praise from

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

quarterback and former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers. This win clinched bowl eligibility for the Bears while making the Cardinal ineligible for the post-season for the first time in ten years. The Bears went to the

Redbox Bowl The San Francisco Bowl was an annual postseason college football bowl game certified by the NCAA and played in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally named the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl during its first two editions from 2002 to 2003, it w ...

, where they won against the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

35–20, their first bowl win since 2015. Garbers had a career best-tying 4 touchdowns and was named Offensive MVP for the game. The Bears finished the 2019 season with an 8–5 record (4–5 in Pac-12 play), with Garbers going undefeated in the seven games in which he started and finished.

2020 season

Garbers entered his redshirt junior season on the

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is given annually in the United States to the nation's top upperclassmen quarterback in college football. Candidates are judged on accomplishments on the field as well as on their character, scholastic achievemen ...

Preseason Watch List. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Pac-12 had a seven-game Conference-only lineup for the 2020 season. However, the Bears were ultimately only able to play four games for the season due to game cancellations. Garbers started the season 0–3, losing to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, and Stanford. The Bears achieved their sole win in their last game against

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

on December 5, ending the season with a 1–3 record.

2021 season

Garbers entered his redshirt senior season as the starting quarterback. On November 6, 2021, Garbers was declared inactive for Cal's game versus

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

on November 6, 2021, due to COVID-19, and the Bears were forced to postpone their game the following week for the same reason. On November 20, Garbers returned from COVID to lead the Bears to a 41–11 rout of rival Stanford, opening the game with an 84-yard pass to tight end Trevon Clark for the longest pass in the series history. Under Garbers, the Bears set a series record 636 yards of offense, and Garbers became the first Cal quarterback to win back-to-back road games at Stanford in 99 years, since Charles Erb in 1921 and 1922.

Statistics

Professional career

Las Vegas Raiders

Garbers signed with the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2022. He was waived on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day. On December 31, 2022, with two regular season games remaining, Garbers was promoted to the active roster to backup quarterback to new starter

Jarrett Stidham Jarrett Ryan Stidham (born August 8, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). After transferring from Baylor, he played college football at Auburn and was selected by the New E ...

, after

Derek Carr Derek Dallas Carr (born March 28, 1991) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Fresno State, where he twice received first-team All- MWC honors, and w ...

was benched for the remainder of the season. Garbers was released on July 25, 2023. He was re-signed by the

a week later. He was again released by the

on August 27, 2023.

San Antonio Brahmas

On January 19, 2024, Garbers signed with the

of the United Football League (UFL).

Personal

Garbers' younger brother, Ethan, is a quarterback at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

References

External links

California Golden Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garbers, Chase 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Newport Beach, California American football quarterbacks California Golden Bears football players Las Vegas Raiders players San Antonio Brahmas players