Photo credit: 49ers
Jimmy Garoppolo is just a dude from Chicago. For how much he’s a point of discussion, he’s a pretty straightforward, simple guy. He’s not flashy, and keeps things close to his vest.
Tuesday morning provided a prime example of that. Everyone wants to know how Garoppolo has been handling the 49ers’ decision to draft Trey Lance, effectively putting Garoppolo’s time with the 49ers on an expiring clock. And he talked about that, but there was another reason he broke his silence. It was for National Signing Day, but not for college sports commitments.
It’s the signing day for students who are looking to get into technical trades and apprenticeships to become electricians, HVAC repairpeople, etc. It’s to promote blue collar jobs, which is appealing to Garoppolo, whose father, Tony, is an electrician.
The Garoppolos, both father and son, joined the Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin Show on ESPN to discuss national signing day… and, yeah, the whole quarterback situation.
Garoppolo said he feels good about the communication he’s gotten from 49ers’ management, saying “everything has been put on the table,” and that he’s just happy he’ll be able to play. He recalled back to when he entered the league as Tom Brady’s understudy, and expects to lean on that experience with Lance.
“It’s kind of coming full circle,” Garoppolo said. “You go through this NFL career and you started as the young guy coming in, Tom kind of showed me the ropes. The competition between us was awesome, really made me grow as a rookie and a young player. And so that’s kind of what me and Trey, we’ll mold our relationship into that, but it’ll happen naturally. Just it’s one of the things you can’t force anything, just let it come as it may.”
As a former FCS player out of Eastern Illinois University, he and Lance have a shared background; he pointed to that as something that makes the transition difficult. The speed of competition is massively different.
“I try to use my own personal experiences, just what I went through, what helped me, what challenged me as a young player and so I’m gonna try to use those tools that helped me and try to help Trey out,” Garoppolo said. “It’s hard to come into this league. I know how hard it was coming from an FCS school to the NFL. It’s a bit of an adjustment; the speed, whatever you want to call it, it’s just different. So whatever I could do to help him, I will be more than happy.”