Jimmy G claims he can ‘be himself’ with the Rams, unlike previous teams originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is enjoying his new stint with the Los Angeles Rams.
The 10-year NFL veteran still feels comfortable with a franchise he believes offers more power than most.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Jeff Howe published Monday, Garoppolo explained what makes playing for Los Angeles special compared to his stints with the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco.
“This is a place where you can be yourself, which is different than other places I’ve been,” Garoppolo told Howe. “You’re pushed by a sense of urgency, but in a good way. Everybody wants to win, obviously. Everybody wants to do well. They do it the right way here.
“They push you positively. There’s just a lot of good things happening, man. I enjoy it. Even the meetings are a good time. Everything is going well right now.”
While Garoppolo never names specific teams, he does allude to the Patriots, 49ers and Raiders as organizations that kept him from reaching his potential target.
However, the 32-year-old player has not developed into the star player he should have been after playing as a backup to Tom Brady for 3.5 seasons, despite earning $148.7 million in his NFL career.
In March, the Raiders released Garoppolo after he was suspended for the first two games of the 2024 NFL season for a PED violation. He signed a one-year contract with the Rams a few days later.
Anyone who followed Las Vegas last season or watched wide receiver DaVante Adams on the Netflix series “Quarterback” knows that Garoppolo was definitely not in the Raiders’ future.
And as the Faithful well know, Garoppolo was unable to cross the championship threshold in 5 1/2 years with San Francisco. Instead, he’ll be remembered for nearly earning a spot among 49ers greats like Joe Montana and Steve Young after falling just short in Super Bowl LIV.
Now he’s replacing Matthew Stafford — back in his first role in the league. Garoppolo feels safe in Los Angeles, and believes he needed that feeling more than ever after such a rollercoaster ride in the NFL.
“It’s been chaotic at times, but it’s all learning experiences,” Garoppolo told Howe. “That’s one thing I’ve learned from this. The NFL is crazy, man. Everybody’s got a story. Everybody’s going in whatever direction they want to make it. But at the end of the day, it’s your story and you’ve got to make the best of it.
“Good, bad or indifferent, whatever happened in the past, it happened. … Now I’m here and I’m just trying to make every day the best day.”
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