We are not fool enough to compare Jimmy Garoppolo to Joe Montana or Steve Young. We're not that concussed.
So, let's compare them, OK?
It's Super Bowl week and all storylines are open game. Why not dig into what ties the three together?
For starters, they have this on their resume: played quarterback for the 49ers. Each is 6-foot-2. Each was known to operate with a sense of cool in the heat of competition. Each earned the respect of teammates.
Simple guys with simple names and Herculean tasks: Joe, Steve and Jimmy. Jimmy Garoppolo has a better quarterback ring to it than Jim Garoppolo. Fans and even some TV media fanboy and girl sorts can easier gush, "Jimmy G!" than "Jim G!"
Like Montana and Young before him, Garoppolo could fire off a witty one-liner. He joked once, "I thank my parents for the good looks It's the Italian tan." He has also trademarked his saying of "Feels great, baby!"
Each reached a Super Bowl multiple times. Montana did so four times with four victories. Young won three Super Bowl rings, twice as a backup to Montana and once as a record-setting starter when San Francisco last won the sport's grandest prize. Garoppolo has two Super Bowl rings from his time with the Patriots stashed away, "back in Chicago, safe and sound," he said recently.
He earned those as a backup to Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. Garoppolo studied and learned from Brady, who might just be the best quarterback in the 100-year history of the NFL not named Joe Montana.
Young also learned as a backup, burning to lead his own team. Young and Garoppolo share that common bond of patience being a virtue, leading to opportunity and the Super Bowl.
