Jimmy Garoppolo once served as the heir apparent to Tom Brady in New England and now, he’s playing for him.
Speaking recently to Yahoo Sports, Garoppolo — who signed with Las Vegas in free agency following a six-season run in San Francisco — was asked about what it’s like sharing NFL quarters again with Brady, who is now a minority owner of the Raiders.
“Not weird,” Garoppolo said. “It was cool seeing him in the locker room. Same old dude. Dude loves ball, you could tell the competitor in him is coming out a little bit, even for just a preseason game. I mean, he’s telling us to go ruin their day.
“It was nice having him around, man. He’s good vibes, he’s good people. It’s only going to do good for our organization having a winner like that around.”
Garoppolo began his NFL career with the Patriots in 2014, when Brady was still under center.
He was traded to San Francisco three years later while Brady remained in New England until the conclusion of the 2019 season.
Brady then fled south in 2020 to Tampa Bay, where the seven-time Super Bowl champion played the final three seasons of his career before retiring in February.
It’s too early to tell if Brady’s winning ways will rub off on the Raiders, who replaced Derek Carr in free agency with Garoppolo.
The 31-year-old quarterback signed a three-year, $72.75 million contract with the Raiders in March, a move that reunites him with former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, now the head coach in Las Vegas.
The Raiders went 6-11 last season and face an uphill battle this year to reach the playoffs in the loaded AFC West.
“It’s been a good training camp, guys are in a good mindset. Good preseason, but now it starts to get fun now,” Garoppolo said. “So, we’re excited about it. It’s going to be a fun year.”
As one of the new faces in town, Garoppolo said he needs to be “natural” as he acclimates himself with his new team.
“You can’t really fake it. You can’t be something that you’re not and come in here with all this fake energy and things like that. You got to just let it flow, let you be yourself, and I think guys respect that and kind of gravitate towards that, in a way,” Garoppolo said. “So it’s been a fun experience.
“Great group of guys. Obviously, this locker room, tight-knit group. You could tell they’ve been through some stuff together. It’s everything I was hoping it was going to be when I signed here, so it’s been a fun ride.”
Garoppolo is surrounded by a solid cast of weapons, including elite receiver Davante Adams and top running back Josh Jacobs.
Jacobs just ended his holdout in advance of the Raiders’ Week 1 matchup against the Broncos in Denver on Sept. 10.
“It means a lot,” Garoppolo said of having Jacobs in the fold. “You could tell just the building atmosphere was a little different yesterday, having him back, seeing him around. I got to meet him for the first time. Great energy. You could just see he’s ready for football, man. Not going through training camp, I’m sure his body feels as fresh as can be. So it’s going to be a fun year with him.
“I’m excited to get to work and really just let our relationship start to grow now.”
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