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SAN JOSE — Jimmy Garoppolo beamed with family pride Wednesday morning in his warm-up act before reporting to the 49ers facility for more rehabilitation work on his rebuilt knee.
First, Garoppolo joined his father, Tony, a recently retired electrician, in a signing-day presentation for nearly 100 high school students entering skilled trades as a profession.
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As much as it was a celebration for aspiring teenagers to take pictures and shake hands with the 49ers quarterback, it was also a way to honor his father’s 40-year career in the Chicago area.
“It’s his day more so than mine,” Jimmy Garoppolo said. “But I thought it was a cool connection between football and the trades. The work we do isn’t the exact same but there’s more similarities than you think, just with the hard work and the time you put in.”
Garoppolo has four more months of hard rehabilitation to get ready for the 49ers’ season opener, Sept. 8 at Tampa Bay. So far, so good in the tedious work he’s put in after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last Sept. 23.
He’s throwing, running and cutting as the 49ers’ offseason program approaches its midway mark. What can he get out of this final phase before organized team activities start May 20?
“It’s a combination of reactionary stuff. That’s a big part of it,” Garoppolo said. “When you’re doing rehab, everything is, ‘Do this movement, do this.’ Well, in the game, you’re more reacting than thinking. Getting used to those type of movements. We’ve been doing some of them and patterning them. It’s coming along well.”
He acknowledged that he truly won’t know how well his comeback is going until that season opener, that “practice is practice and you can only replicate the game so much.”
To help him prepare for that both mentally and physically, he’s spoken to other players who’ve come off ACL surgery. Last weekend, at the Kentucky Derby, Garoppolo tapped Tom Brady for such advice. And what did his former New England Patriots mentor tell him?
“I’ve got to keep that confidential,” Garoppolo said. “but I did actually talk to him about it for a little bit. He’s been through everything, seen everything, so whenever I can pick his brain, it’s a good thing.”
#49ers Jimmy Garoppolo and his father, Tony, are participating in a national signing day for high school students going into skill trades. Jimmy’s dad was an electrician for 40 years. Sponsored by Skills USA and Klein Tools pic.twitter.com/PmLBDNu1so
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) May 8, 2019
Channeling Tony Garoppolo’s work ethic has come in handy, too. He retired Jan. 1 after 40 years as a union electrician “and a couple years before that to get my feet wet,” he recalled. Working in Chicago’s fierce winters was “brutal and I don’t know how I did it,” said Tony Garoppolo, 62.
Tying together that career to Tuesday’s first-ever SkillsUSA National Signing Day was that it was sponsored by Klein Tools, which Tony used to use. His son has turned down many an endorsement but this one aptly linked to his blue-collar roots, complementing his bigger deals with Jordan, Bose and New Era brands.
“That work ethic is not seen everyday and I’m glad I got to witness it firsthand,” Garoppolo said. “Anytime you think you’re having a rough day, I always think back to that, and I’m like, ‘Is it as tough as you think it is?’ ”
Garoppolo’s pocket mobility should be tested more than ever now that the 49ers brought in pass rushers Dee Ford and Nick Bosa.
“It’ll be interesting in practice,” Garoppolo said. “But it will be good practice seeing those guys every day, D-Fo and those guys up front. It’s an impressive group up right now and it will lead to good competition.”
As much as Garoppolo is the face of the 49ers franchise, Bosa has temporarily filled that role since his selection last month with the No. 2 overall draft pick, particularly in terms of Bosa’s controversial social-media history.
Sure enough, Bosa was a hot topic when Garoppolo hopped from one interview to the next with national media organizations before Wednesday morning’s signing-day event at the Silicon Valley Career Technical Education.
In an interview with Fox Business Network host Stuart Varney, Garoppolo got asked if the 49ers will take issue with Bosa’s politics. Garoppolo’s response: “Not in the locker room, those type of things aren’t even discussed. Once you get into the facility, it’s all about football, it’s all about being a good teammate and putting the team first.”
Garoppolo said he got the right vibe from his new teammate, but wasn’t shy about saying he’ll need mentoring as all rookies do, adding: “Nick seems like a good guy. I got the chance to meet him for a quick second when he first got drafted. We’ll bring him along right.”
