The San Francisco 49ers 20-17 loss in the NFC Championship game to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday didn’t just mean the end of the season, it meant the very likely end of the Jimmy Garoppolo era in San Francisco.
From the time 49ers traded up nine spots in the 2021 NFL Draft, it was clear that Garoppolo’s time with the organization was finite. But through it all, Garoppolo handled the situation with professionalism and class and played at a high level all season.
“I mean, it was difficult at times,” Garoppolo said. “…[W]hen things happened in the offseason and we made the trade and everything and picked [QB] Trey [Lance], it kind of made things clear for me…It honestly made things simpler in some ways, because it took the weight off my shoulders. Now it’s just go play football and enjoy this last year with the guys and create as many relationships as I could. And that’s really what I tried to do this year and thought it worked out pretty well.”
Class act pic.twitter.com/lFsBnEBwqZ
— Tracy Sandler (@49ersfangirl) February 1, 2022
Because of that attitude, Garoppolo and Lance were able to form a good relationship.
“He’s been nothing but great to me,” said quarterback Trey Lance, who is poised to take over under center. “I have nothing but thankfulness for him and everything he’s done and how he’s handled everything. Obviously, he’s going to be one of my best friends for my whole entire life.”
It’s a sentiment that did not surprise Shanahan.
“They’re competitive as can be, but they’re always respectful,” Shanahan said. “…I believe Trey when he says that. It sounds like a 21-year old comment and I know he means it. And I think Jimmy feels the same. Like I’ve been in a bunch of good quarterback rooms. I’ve been in some bad ones. But I can’t think of one that was better than this from those two to [QB] Nate [Sudfeld] to [quarterbacks coach] Rich Scangarello to [offensive passing game specialist] Bobby [Slowik]. Myself in there a bunch. It was a really genuine, cool room where we enjoyed each other. When we were done with football, the meeting didn’t always just end, sometimes we would just sit there and hang out and that was genuine. So what Trey said, he meant. And I know Jimmy feels the same way and that’s one of the reasons we were able to do something like this.”
Jimmy Garoppolo said he wanted to leave the organization better than he found it and he most certainly did pic.twitter.com/p3IZZaapOv
— Tracy Sandler (@49ersfangirl) February 1, 2022
For Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, Garoppolo’s performance in the 2021 season makes things somewhat less clear cut, even though the chances of Garoppolo coming back are very slim.
“…Jimmy’s made it a lot harder, because he stayed healthy and he played like he is capable of playing, which is to me one of the better quarterbacks in this league.” Shanahan said. “So we’re in a tough situation…a situation where you have to make some tough decisions that won’t be easy, but I’m happy about that. That means you’ve got the best scenario going, and that’s why we have put a lot of thought into this.”
With that being said, Garoppolo is aware of where things stand and is prepared to move on.
“…I was talking to John yesterday just about finding the right destination and whatever the future holds just doing it the right way,” Garoppolo said. “I’ve got a long career ahead of me. So I’m excited about it. I’m excited about the opportunities to come. I just want to go to a place where they want to win. I mean, that’s really what I’m in this game for. I’m here to play football here, to win football games. And as long as I’ve got that and good people around me, I think the rest will take care of itself.”
With all the ups and downs of the offseason and season, does Garoppolo think there’s something to be said for a fresh start?
“Absolutely,” Garoppolo said. “Yeah. It’ll definitely be different. I don’t know if it’ll be easier or harder. Each year’s difficult in this league. I mean, it always is, but that’s part of the reason I love it. Nothing’s given to you, you’ve got to earn everything in this league and it’s not easy. I think that’s just something that I embrace and I sort of enjoy in a way.”
As for his successor, Garoppolo indicated it reminded him at times of his relationship with now-retired Tom Brady. But, ultimately, Lance and Garoppolo made the situation as easy as possible.
“It’s been fun with Trey,” Garoppolo said. “He’s a good dude, down to earth, normal dude. And I really liked that since the day he got here, because if Trey would have come in and acted a little different things, could have been tough there for a little while, but he was always a class act, always a cool dude and he’s gonna have a bright future. I wish him nothing but the best going forward. I’m excited for him. He’s a talented young guy and the future’s bright for him.”
And also
- Kyle Shanahan on 49ers fans: “I did want to say one thing because I forgot after the game, and it’s not just kissing up to them. What our fans did in L.A. was not just the coolest thing for the head coach of the Niners, it was one of the coolest things I’ve seen in sports. To watch the commitment of a fan base try to go take over another stadium and to watch how hard they were trying not to. And for me to sit there on Saturday night and my wife to show me videos of the airport. For my friends to send me videos of the coffee shops and the streets. And then for me to go in there and see the stadium, it gave me, it gave our players, it gave us chills. It was not just cool because I’m the coach. I haven’t ever seen that. And I’ve been around sports a long time and I’ve been a lot of different places. And I can’t tell you guys how cool that was and how much we appreciated that. That’s not normal.”
On to 2022.
