If you’ve waded through social media and hot take media shows for discussion about the 49ers, you probably have noticed there’s no topic as polarizing as Jimmy Garoppolo.
On one side, you hear about how the 49ers are winning despite Garoppolo. On the other side, you hear they are winning because of him. If you are on either side of the argument, you are wrong.
The 49ers are winning because they are a complete team, and Garoppolo has proven to be a selfless leader.
Kraxy how y’all have so much to say about our quarterback…. Check His Win Percentage…. Okay I’ll Wait. Pure Winner @JimmyG_10
— Deebo (@19problemz) January 27, 2022
The above tweet is just the most recent example that some media personalities and fans do not share the same view of Garoppolo as those in the locker room.
During his Thursday press conference, Kyle Shanahan was asked what the words from Garoppolo’s teammates say about him as a leader.
“It shows what our guys think of him,” responded Shanahan. “Jimmy is one of the main reasons we are here. He’s done an unbelievable job. People don’t give him enough credit. Yeah, we win as a team, and that’s why he doesn’t always have the same stats that some MVP candidates have. But Jimmy’s a very good quarterback, and he doesn’t worry about that stuff.”
Shanahan knows all about working with MVP quarterbacks. Matt Ryan was named MVP while playing under Shanahan during his time as offensive coordinator for Atlanta.
With Ryan as his quarterback in 2015 and 2016, Atlanta posted a 21-14 record, including postseason. In 50 games with Jimmy Garoppolo as his starting quarterback in San Francisco, Shanahan has compiled a 35-15 record.
Despite the strong winning percentage with Garoppolo at quarterback, the 49ers decided to invest heavily in the position during the 2021 draft.
Shanahan and Garoppolo have done a masterful job of navigating the potential pitfalls this move could have caused the organization. After starting the season 3-5, San Francisco now finds itself on the doorstep of reaching its second Super Bowl in three seasons.
Throughout it all, the team has continued to recognize Garoppolo as a leader. Shanahan explained why.
“He’s gone through some ups and downs while he’s been here, like most quarterbacks do, but he’s the same guy,” said Shanahan. “And that’s why people, first and foremost, respect him as a human and as a person. And then the way that he goes and battles on the field, everyone knows how tough he is, everyone knows how hard he’ll compete running with the ball, and our guys also know he can throw pretty well, too.”
Notes:
Left tackle Trent Williams missed his second practice of the week after suffering an injury to his right ankle against Green Bay.
Running backs Jeff Wilson Jr and Elijah Mitchell were both limited participants in practice.
Cornerback Ambry Thomas and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo were listed as full participants.
This sums everything up in one sentence. 3 first round picks is not insignificant.
Very good news about Thomas. Concerning that both Mitchell and Wilson Jr. were limited.
Just learned that Wilson Jr. didn’t participate at all. Kyle thought he was going to.
Likely rest for Mitchell no? Wilson has been irrelevant for 5-6 weeks now.
You know Mina Kimes was the person that did the team project for guys that looked like Jimmy G.
Jeff Garcia’s deleted his attack on Kimes. Have to wonder why any
guy anywhere would issue such a statement about a female
columnist. What was he thinking? Seems almost like something
Trump would do.
I did not see what he said, but ya sounds like something a lot of guys would do.
There are numerous quotes from Bill Walsh attacking the media. There is video of a a speech he gave to his team about being careful when dealing with the media because all they want to do is tear down successful people. I couldn’t locate a link to that video or I would have posted it here. In that rant, he talks about writers being critical when in reality they don’t have any clue what they are talking about because they never played the game. Football players and coaches have criticized writers for decades for being critical even though they never played. There is nothing unusual about Jeff Garcia pushing back on Mina Kimes for her critique of Jimmy G. I happen to agree with Kimes but Garcia isn’t wrong about defending Jimmy because of all the intangibles he brings to the team. Those intangibles have definitely helped the 49ers get this far. You’ve seen many 49er players coming out this week in strong support of Jimmy so Garcia’s rant is not too unusual. Trying to shield Mina Kimes from the same criticism male writers have received for decades just because she’s a woman is wrong. Mina playing the woman card here is also wrong. I’m a fan of hers but I’d respect her more if she just said Garcia is a fan and he’s acting like a fan and then defending her position.
How exactly did she play the “woman card”. Seems like you **** once again**** dont know what you are talking about. BTW, Kyle Shanahan and Mike McDaniel also have never taken a snap in the NFL.
https://deadspin.com/jeff-garcia-goes-after-mina-kimes-in-rant-straight-out-1848435683
“Apparently I was the only person last week to point out Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t play well,”
Mina Kimes
Implication is subtle and abundantly clear to anyone with a functioning brain. Kimes is an ESPN analyst. Obviously, Garcia saw her commentary and reacted. The only way your opinion is right is if Garcia saw multiple reports criticizing Garoppolo and he chose to only criticize Mina Kimes because she’s a woman. That’s absurd on it’s face. Here’s a news flash for you, sports reporters get criticized for their opinions when people disagree with those opinions. Has nothing to do with gender.
She was being sarcastic when she wrote/said this. Jimmy has throw more picks than TDs in each of his last 4 games. He has been criticized by the media and even his own GM “liked ” an tweet indicating frustration with Jimmy’s play (later retracted -sort of). No one is or should be immune from criticism including reporters , athletes and all other humans. In this particular case the criticism was warranted and Garcia’s response was unusually personal .
Do you recall Bob Garcia calling into sports talk radio shows to defend Jeff when he was the starting 49er QB? Bob & Jeff have expressed impassioned opinions many times. There was nothing particularly personal or unusual in Jeffs defense of Jimmy.
What does being a female have to do with it? What she wrote was nonsense, but he did get a little over emotional.
What was he thinking? What was she thinking? She doesn’t get a pass on criticism because she’s a female. Wanna play in the big boy league amd call out a player when you have zero clue about the sport because yes you’re a female and females don’t usually play football. Them take you lumps as you dish them out.
If Garcia was talking about a spokeswoman for women’s rights and called out how she complained about what women go through, you better believe women would be smacking him on how would he know. Equality! They want to call out masculinity….. then you get what you get. Period!
Ok, so Mike McDaniels is apparently getting a 2nd interview with the Dolphins. McDaniels is biracial. Dad is black. Mom is white. If the Dolphins hire McDaniels do the 49ers receive compensatory picks under the NFLs Diversity hiring program?
The media, ha, once a very respected job has turned into a bunch of clowns spewing their opinions instead of reporting. Careless reporting for one example is the Kimes reporter,
“He was trying to give away the game in the second half,” Kimes said.
That’s careless reporting – HE WAS TRYING – what a stupid idiotic comment, sounds like a ZEB type comment or a Cohn comment. Oh yes Jimmy G WAS TRYING to give the game away, he sure was, that’s why all of his teammates and coaching staff come to cover his back knowing that HE WAS TRYING TO GIVE THE GAME AWAY.
Jack you are doing a good job.
Yes, this is exactly what Jeff Garcia said about Kimes. But
he got crucified for it and finally deleted his comments on
Instagram. Female commentators are sacrosanct these days.
If you’re a male, you can’t touch them or you suffer the same
fate as Garcia who simply got upset and let loose on her.
It’s like this – say what you mean and mean what you say. Garcia obviously didn’t believe in what he said, makes him a chump and Kimes is a liar, it wasn’t trying to give the game away.
In a perfect world (meaning one without a salary cap) the 49ers would just repeat what they did this year, keep JG and continue to develop Lance but the cap won’t allow them to. If JG is willing to renegotiate down to around 8 mill next year I believe they could still put together a playoff roster. There is little chance JG would take such a large pay cut so it looks like trading him is the only move they have left. Hopefully they can get a couple of good picks for JG and a couple of extra 3rd round picks if McDaniel and or Ryans sign with another team. It will be a very interesting off season.
Journalism has become a form of entertainment. Have you watched Stephen A recently? They way he’s going, one day he’ll have a stroke on the air and it might be soon.
I’ve seen Mina Kimes a few times. I like her but she does use sarcasm and it could be misinterpreted.
About Garcia, man if he were in his prime and playing this Sunday . . .