Gamecock QB great Stephen Garcia opens up about cancer diagnosis, outpouring of support
Countless phone calls and text messages. A GoFundMe campaign that’s over $200,000. Encouragement overload from former teammates and rivals, including Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron.
Yes, the outpouring of support for Stephen Garcia in the days after his announcement that he’s battling Stage 4 colorectal cancer caught the former South Carolina quarterback off-guard. In a very good way.
“It is truly humbling. ... People I don’t know who they are. Some people are sending $7. There are people that are sending $5,000, $10,000. It is amazing,” Garcia told reporters Friday. “There are so many people who have come together. My phone has died like 50 times already because I am trying to respond to everybody and make sure they know I am genuinely extremely thankful for them caring about what I am going through.”
Fifteen years after his college football career ended, the 38-year-old Garcia is beginning a tough personal and physical battle, bigger than any he endured during his time as Gamecocks quarterback from 2007 to 2011. He was the starting quarterback on the only Gamecocks team that won a Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title in 2010, the same season USC famously knocked off No. 1 Alabama.
Garcia met with media members through a Zoom video interview Friday, going in-depth on his diagnosis, treatment plan and getting the word out to encourage those “who feel a little off” to go to the doctor and get tested.
“I want to repay everyone I possibly can by getting the word out,” Garcia said. “... Put your pride aside and go get it checked out.”
Garcia was initially reluctant to share his story about his cancer diagnosis. He went to a Kentucky Derby party over the weekend with friends and family but wasn’t ready to talk about his health. Only immediate family members knew of it before his wife, Masha, posted the GoFundMe link Wednesday.
It also was Masha who encouraged him to go to the doctor to get checked out. Garcia said he started feeling pain in his left lower abdomen in July but didn’t do anything about it until six or seven months later.
He thought it might be irritable bowel syndrome, but the pain never ended and he finally went to get an ultrasound that revealed a few spots on his liver. An MRI, CT scan, liver biopsy and a colonoscopy followed, and doctors found a 13-centimeter tumor.
Doctors told Garcia that cancer could have been in his system anywhere from three to seven years. Because of that, Garcia said his children will likely have to have a colonoscopy from the time they are 28 years old instead of the recommended age of 45.
Garcia started chemo April 29 and has a port in him that he hopes to have removed in the next day or so. There will be four to six cycles of chemotherapy over the next eight to 12 weeks. He said doctors are giving him FOLFIRINOX, an aggressive treatment that uses three different chemotherapy drugs.
The plan, Garcia said, is to see the tumor shrink, then radiate and perform surgery to cut it out and reach the point there’s no evidence of the disease.
Garcia isn’t sure if he will lose his long hair in the process, but “if it’s gotta go, it’s gotta go.”
Doctors have encouraged Garcia to continue his routine as much as possible, which includes working out and cutting out sugar and carbs. He admitted it’ll be tough to cut out drinking alcohol, especially during the summer.
One of the biggest things during this battle, Garcia said, is to keep a positive mental outlook, which is helped by having all the support he was received.
Garcia became emotional when talking about the outpouring from his former teammates, including Melvin Ingram, Ace Sanders, Alshon Jeffrey, Marcus Lattimore, Jason Barnes, Kyle Nunn, Patrick DiMarco, Wesley Saunders and so many others.
“The garnet and black blood runs deep,” Garcia said.
Ingram Face-timed Garcia for about 45 minutes on Thursday, sent him money and is planning to fly down to Tampa next week to spend some time with him.
Former USC coach Steve Spurrier called Garcia and also posted a message on his Facebook page, encouraging people to donate to the GoFundMe page and said. “Stephen, we are praying for you.”
“I’m built for this,” Garcia said. “... We are going to kick this thing in the teeth and knock it out. There is no other option. There is no Plan B. This is what we are doing. I have complete faith in the team I have around me.”
This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Gamecock QB great Stephen Garcia opens up about cancer diagnosis, outpouring of support."
