Below the radar is just how Garoppolo likes it
Jimmy Garoppolo’s especially quiet and under-the-radar offseason is a reflection of, well, “it’s just Jim.”
That is how fullback Kyle Juszczyk described the 49ers’ quarterback.
Garoppolo hasn’t spoken to the media since the 49ers cleared out their Santa Clara lockers Feb. 5, three days after losing Super Bowl LIV.
How rare is that in the NFL? Only seven other teams’ top quarterbacks have steered clear of media interviews since then.
Garoppolo, Juszczyk said, has been unfazed by offseason developments, such as the 49ers’ dalliance with Tom Brady, the retirement of left tackle Joe Staley and the media’s critique of Garoppolo’s fourthquarter woes in the Super Bowl.
“You haven’t seen any crazy media lashouts from him, or him be down on himself or anything like that,” Juszczyk said Tuesday on a video conference with Bay Area media. “It’s just Jim.
“He comes to work every day and works his butt off, has the same demeanor every day. The outside noise, it truly doesn’t seem to affect him.”
Daily work means virtual meetings with
teammates and training away from the 49ers’ facility, which has been closed for two weeks and can not reopen until as early as June but more likely for training camp in two months. Garoppolo is “always involved” in those Zoom meetings, Juszczyk said.
Otherwise, Garoppolo has stayed away out of the spotlight, aside from an Instagram post last month about his excitement for ESPN’s docuseries on his childhood idol, Michael Jordan.
The other QBs who’ve stayed muted: Arizona’s Kyler Murray, Dallas’ Dak Prescott (yet to sign his franchise tag), New England’s Jarrett Stidham, Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky, Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield, Houston’s Deshaun Watson and Jacksonville’s Gardner Minshew.
Meanwhile, 12 of his teammates have held media sessions the past month. Juszczyk’s turn was Tuesday, and he made sure to set the record straight regarding an interview he recently did with a Baltimore radio station, in which Garoppolo was a hot topic.
“I was disappointed I saw the headline of one of the articles that I was ‘Tired of being Jimmy’s bodyguard,’ “Juszczyk said, referring to a post on 49erswebzone.com. “That’s absolutely not what I said. I feel like I’ve been Jimmy’s bodyguard this offseason but I’ve never been tired of it. I’ll continue to do it right now.
“It’s crazy to me that he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves, for what a phenomenal season I think he had, for the numbers he put up, the way he led this team. He was no doubt our leader on offense. He brought us to a Super Bowl and within seven minutes of winning one.”
Juszczyk caught Garoppolo’s only touchdown pass in the 3120 Super Bowl loss to Kansas City. Since then, Juszczyk relocated his offseason home to New York, and a visit to his inlaw’s cabin provided unique training in the snow, where he channeled “Rocky” by hoisting up logs onto his shoulders and pushing sleds.
Entering the final season of a four-year deal, Juszczyk said he recently realized that the pandemic could impact teams’ payrolls, but he sounds confident the 49ers will re-sign him, adding: “I know Kyle (Shanahan) and John (Lynch) looked at me favorably, and I think they’ll take care of me.”