Getty Kyle Shanahan with Jimmy Garoppolo.
It didn’t take long for Jimmy Garoppolo to get his reunion with the San Francisco 49ers. The quarterback joined the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason after six seasons in San Francisco. The two teams are currently doing joint training camp practices together so he’s already seeing familiar faces.
Though 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan clearly soured on Garoppolo toward the end as made evident by the fact that they used the No. 3 pick to draft Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft. Despite that, the coach still has a lot of admiration for Garoppolo and gave him high praise following the first joint practice with the Raiders.
“I think Jimmy was unbelievable for us,” Shanahan said during his August 10 media availability.”He won lots of games. I think that was a simple question. Is there a scenario where he’ll be back here next year and I gave a common sense answer – ‘No.’ I think that was a little overblown, on trying to be a shot at him or anything. We knew he wasn’t going to be coming back from his standpoint or ours, financially and everything.
“I think he was the best quarterback here in about 20 years in Steve Young. Has an unbelievable record and every time he played and stayed healthy we were in the Super Bowl of the NFC Championship game.”
Jimmy Garoppolo Addresses San Francisco 49ers Not Bringing Him Back
Jimmy Garoppolo had a 38-17 win-loss record during his time with the 49ers. When he was healthy, the team was competitive and almost won the Super Bowl in 2019. He admitted that leaving the 49ers was a tough pill to swallow for him.
“I mean, we’re all people,” Garoppolo told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Silver in an August 9 interview. “You hear it, things like that. I just try to make the best of the situation. We’ve all been through hard things. In life, things are gonna happen that don’t go your way, and you’ve just got to make the best of it.
“As the quarterback of a team, there are a lot of guys looking at you in that huddle. So, you really can’t show that side of it. You’ve just got to go out there and ball. That’s the part that’s the hardest. But it’s part of the job.”
“It’s on to Vegas now (but) I treasure those times. Those were good times.” Jimmy Garoppolo
Jimmy Garoppolo Treasures Time With San Francisco 49ers
The Raiders provide a new chapter for Jimmy Garoppolo but he’s not going to forget his times with the 49ers. He revealed that he was working to get his foot healthy last season so that he could be ready to possibly play in the Super Bowl if the team needed him. The team lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game but he still cherishes his memories in San Francisco.
“I was doing my thing trying to get my foot ready,” Garoppolo said during his August 10 media availability. “It didn’t work out like I wished it would’ve. But those guys, going through three quarterbacks and still making it to the NFC Championship Game, that’s damn impressive for a team. I know the Niners have a great team and everything. We had a great time, but it’s on to Vegas now. I treasure those times. Those were good times.”