Stephen Garcia, former South Carolina quarterback, announces cancer diagnosis
Former South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia has been diagnosed with cancer, he and his family announced on social media Wednesday.
In posts on Facebook and GoFundMe, the former USC QB and his wife, Masha, announced that he’d been diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer after a recent stay in the emergency room and is starting treatment immediately.
“Wasn’t overly excited to share this news, but it is what it is,” Garcia, 38, wrote in a Facebook post. “We have a great team of doctors and staff that’s confident we can beat this! It’s the only option.”
In a GoFundMe set up to support Garcia’s recovery, his wife wrote that doctors are “taking the most aggressive treatment path available to fight this.”
“Stephen’s entire focus is now dedicated to one thing: fighting this disease with everything he has,” she wrote on the GoFundMe.
Garcia was a top recruit and productive dual-threat quarterback at South Carolina during the Steve Spurrier era, starting 34 games from 2008-11.
Garcia remains tied for the third-most wins in program history by a starting quarterback (20) and led South Carolina to a win over then-No. 1 Alabama in 2010, the largest upset in program history based on opponent ranking.
Garcia remains a close friend and associate of the Gamecocks football program and works as a quarterback trainer in the Tampa, Florida, area, where he grew up and went to high school. His son, Memphys, is a high school senior signed to play QB at New Mexico Military Institute this fall. Memphys is the oldest of Garcia’s three children; he also has two daughters.
“I talked to Stephen about an hour ago, actually, and he was in great spirits,” USC head coach Shane Beamer said Wednesday at The Gamecock Club Garnet & Black Road Trip stop in Columbia. “Then texting back and forth since we talked on the phone about an hour ago and told him to attack this thing with the same mindset that he’s attacked everything going back to when he was a player here and still is now as a human being. Told him I got his back, and we all have his back. Just praying hard for him right now.”
In a Facebook post, Garcia expressed confidence in his doctors’ treatment plan for him and encouraged people to “get checked and don’t be afraid to visit the (doctor’s) office when you don’t feel 100%.”
“He was in regular Stephen Garcia mode when I talked to him earlier,” Beamer said Wednesday. “Just that fighting mentality and toughness and [he’s] going to kick this thing’s butt. Very convicted and determined, and that’s who he was as a player and as a person.”
News of Garcia’s cancer diagnosis spread quickly on social media Wednesday, with South Carolina fans offering well wishes and donations. Garcia’s GoFundMe, set with a goal of $35,000, had reached almost $8,000 in one hour.
“We are navigating a very difficult time,” Masha Garcia, Stephen’s wife, wrote on his GoFundMe page. “Every message of support and every contribution serves as a reminder to Stephen that he is not in this alone. We are incredibly grateful for the village helping him fight this battle.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Stephen Garcia, former South Carolina quarterback, announces cancer diagnosis."
