Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Jimmy’s G force
BRADY UNDERSTUDY IS NOW THE MASTER OF 49ers BOWL DESTINY
Kansas City Chiefs v
San Francisco 49ers
Hard Rock Stadium, Tonight, 11.30pm
TOM BRADY has dominated recent Super Bowl history, appearing in four of the last five.
Tonight it is the turn of his former understudy to step out of the shadows and claim his own place in football folklore.
Where Rocky Balboa was once the Italian Stallion, Jimmy Garoppolo is now front and centre as the Italian Stud.
And the quarterback with the movie-star good looks is on a mission to lead San Francisco to their first Super Bowl triumph in a 25 years in the same stadium where the 49ers were last crowned NFL champs.
But to do so, Jimmy G as he is known, will have to out-duel Patrick Mahomes, the game’s hottest young quarterback, who is on his own mission to deliver a first title in 50 years for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Garoppolo said: “Pat has just about everything. He is a fun guy to watch. Their offence is pretty extravagant, the speed they play with, and he is the guy that makes it go. The way he does it, the no-look passes, all that sort of stuff, it’s impressive.”
Mahomes is just 24 and on course to sign the first $200million contract when his new deal is negotiated this year or next.
But at 28 Garoppolo has one advantage – education while with Brady and the Patriots, where he won two Super Bowls but never got off the bench.
Garoppolo said: “When I got traded here, their record was not very good but you could tell there was still a confidence about the place and that is what we have had all year.
“It’s a very confident team but a team that has put in the work to be confident.
“I didn’t have frustration in New England. I had won two Super Bowls there so I was pretty happy.
“It wasn’t a bad start to the career. I was really glad with everything I had learned there and the people I had learned from.
“But you get to a point where you want to be the starter and be out there playing.
“I thank everyone in New England for what they did for me but this 49ers team is a story of its own.”