Former New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo hasn't developed much of a public profile, but he bared all -- figueratively -- in a Bleacher Report story on Monday.
The story describes his growing up and background in football as a kid from Illinois, but his comments on Tom Brady and Bill Belichick highlight the piece -- along with an opening anecdote about his first few hours as a member of the 49ers.
The competitive nature of the two quarterbacks is described, with Garoppolo offering, “There would be days where one of us would win and you wouldn’t talk to the other for a little while. We’d be fine the next day, but it was one of the best things for me. We would push each other and we got two Super Bowls out of it.”
Brady declined comment in the story, as did Belichick, but Garoppolo did stand up for his former coach's mentality and approach.
“There was no BS’ing around,” he said. “I related to him in that way, as crazy as it sounds. He’s different than he is with the media. He has dry humor — he would say some stuff that was borderline mean. He would put up a lowlight clip every once in a while, and it was always your worst throws from practice. He would put it up there, and you already knew what was about to happen. Any position, there are so many people on the outside hyping you up and saying good things, that everyone needs to be brought back down.”
Garoppolo's competitive nature led him to believe he had a chance to beat out Brady multiple times at the top of the Patriots' quarterback depth chart.
“I’ve always had that mindset. I knew that [Brady] was better than me in my first day in the NFL. Naturally, you’re the rookie and he’s the veteran, but you have to have that mindset, that you want to be the starter.”
New England Patriots
He almost never arrived in San Francisco after he was traded -- a deal where Garoppolo says Belichick took less to look out for his former quarterback. A swerving car crossed the median on I-95 on the way to the airport 10 hours after he was shipped west.
But, the car avoided his limo en route, and now Jimmy G is seeking Super Bowls.
“Super Bowls. That’s every football guy’s dream. That’s why we play the game. We’re just trying to do it one day at a time. I know it sounds super Patriots cliché, but it really is true — like what the hell? Try to get better every day.”