He played college football for the East Carolina Pirates and was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft.

When he began his professional career he created The David Garrard Foundation to promote breast cancer awareness and research.

Former East Carolina head football coach Steve Logan compared the experience of tackling Garrard to "getting hit by a beer truck.

Garrard threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Keith Stokes for the go-ahead score in the final minutes of the game.

ECU was unable to play the scheduled home game at Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium on its campus in Greenville, NC, because Hurricane Floyd had ravaged the eastern part of the state the prior week.

The hurricane also prevented the Pirates from returning to Greenville following a road victory against South Carolina, leaving ECU's football team stranded in Columbia, SC.

[7] East Carolina dropped out of the top 25 to 27th in the voting after losing 28–14 in the 1999 Mobile Alabama Bowl to Texas Christian University and the Horned Frogs' star running back, LaDainian Tomlinson.

[10] Ironically, the final game of Garrard's college career pitted him against Marshall University and its starting quarterback, Byron Leftwich, in the 2001 GMAC Bowl.

Garrard and Leftwich would eventually be teammates with the Jacksonville Jaguars and compete for the team's starting quarterback position.

In the highest-scoring bowl game in college football history to that point, Leftwich brought Marshall back from a thirty-point deficit to defeat Garrard's East Carolina Pirates 64–61 in double-overtime.

[17] Head coach Tom Coughlin saw him as the eventual successor to starting quarterback Mark Brunell.

Leftwich replaced an injured Brunell midway through the 2003 season, and Garrard continued to serve as the team's backup.

[23] Leftwich then returned as the starter for the AFC Wild Card game, in which the Jaguars suffered a 28–3 loss to the New England Patriots.

On January 12, 2008, In the AFC Divisional Round, Garrard set franchise records with 22 completions and 278 yards, along with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception against the unbeaten New England Patriots.

The team slumped behind multiple injuries to their offensive line, and new GM Gene Smith ushering in a "rebuilding era."

[30] He followed up his Pro Bowl appearance throwing for 23 touchdowns, 2,734 yards, a quarterback rating of 91 and an 8–6 record in 14 games in the 2010 season.

[37][38] On March 19, 2012, Garrard agreed to terms with the Miami Dolphins on a one-year contract,[39] and was assumed to be the team's starting quarterback for the year.