Jimmy Garoppolo on his future as well as his favorite target Deebo Samuel
Yahoo Sports’ Matt Harmon visits with the 49ers quarterback and his father Tony Garoppolo. The Garoppolos joined Yahoo Sports in support of International Signing Day for young people entering skilled trades. Tony G. spent 40+ years as an electrician, so he understands the demand and need for skilled trade workers. Turning to the gridiron, and Jimmy G discusses his recovery from shoulder surgery and his future with the 49ers and in the NFL. Jimmy also hits on the recent contract issues with 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel. How does Deebo’s quarterback see this issue playing out? For more information on International Signing Day, please visit kleintools.com and hbi.org.
Video Transcript
MATT HARMON: All right, super excited to be joined by 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and his dad, Tony Garoppolo. Guys, good morning. Thank you so much for joining me here on a special day. It's International Signing Day. Guys, tell me about why this is such an important day and why you both are so passionate about it.
TONY GAROPPOLO: Well, we're trying to get the word out to communities across the country, and now across the world, that there's a shortage of skilled labor and at the same time, we're trying to celebrate the kids that are going into the building trades, whether it's through an apprenticeship, continued education somehow through a junior college or something like that.
MATT HARMON: I love it. It's a good time to be talking about it, especially where we are as a country right now. So I appreciate you guys shining light on that. And it's such a crucial thing.
Jimmy, a couple of questions here for you. Look, it's been an interesting off season so far for you. You had the surgery, everything that's going on with the 49ers right now. Where are you at right now with your football future and what you see coming in the next couple of months?
JIMMY GAROPPOLO: Yeah, well, shoulder is feeling good. Rehab has been a process. We're only about six weeks out of this surgery, so we still got a ways to go. But as far as next couple of months, really just trying to get back and throwing.
As far as trades or whatever, that will all take care of itself. But I'm just trying to get my shoulder back to where I want it to be. You want to be able to throw again and just get back to that stage. And once we get there, then the ball will really start rolling.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, no doubt. Obviously, I think that's got to take care of itself first. It's good to hear that you're feeling good. It's good to hear that your health is doing right. That's number one focus, of course.
I got to ask you about Deebo Samuel. Obviously, he's been in the news the last couple of days. Before talking about speculation, any of that stuff, tell me about what makes Deebo such a special player, such a unique guy that had just an unbelievable season last year?
JIMMY GAROPPOLO: Every year. I mean, I've been with the guy since he was a rookie. He's come a long way. Just the development that he's made, the time that he's put in.
You could tell in the off season, the dude takes it seriously and he just puts in the time. His time will come. I don't know all the details behind the scenes and whatnot, but the dude's earned his money.
He does everything. He plays running back, plays receiver, kick returner. I mean, he does it all. So I think it's only a matter of time till that all sorts itself out.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, the trade demand, I think, caught a lot of us by surprise, obviously. And he's a guy too that during last year's playoff run kind of went out there and said, people talk too much about our quarterback. We win with this guy.
We want to keep playing with this guy. So what is your guys' relationship like from an off field perspective? And obviously, you say you don't really know the details of what's going on there, but is there any sort of back and forth between you guys at this point about, hey, just what's going on with both of your situations?
JIMMY GAROPPOLO: Deebo is my guy, man. On the field, off the field, he's one of those guys love being in the huddle with you. You just could see it in his eyes that it means something to him, that he cares about it, and those are the kind of guys you want in there with you.
But our situations are a little different, I would say, just a little bit. But no, I don't know. I haven't really gotten into details with him or anything like that. But like I said before, the dude's earned his money and it'll work out for him.
MATT HARMON: Obviously, again, International Signing Day is a huge day. You guys are, of course, out on the forefront talking about this. Jimmy, what have you learned from your father over the years with his career? And Tony, what have you tried to kind of impart to Jimmy?
Because I know for my dad, he doesn't really get what I do for a living. I don't really get what I do for a living sometimes, but obviously, we're super supportive of each other. So what have you guys learned from each other over the years?
TONY GAROPPOLO: Probably, with all my kids, and Jimmy being in a unique situation, to work hard and it's a daily grind. I mean, you can't just show up on Sunday and expect to play well if you didn't put the work in during the week. So I tried to get them to have that mentality, the lunch pail mentality, blue collar, work hard and good things will happen. And I think he's proven that point.
JIMMY GAROPPOLO: Yeah, that's pretty good, Pops, because I was going to say the consistency. Just seeing my dad coming home from being electrician isn't the easiest job in the world. And whenever he'd walk through that door, he was always the same guy for us, just super consistent and kept it just the same for the family, which I know is never the easiest thing to do.
And I think it's kind of relatable to quarterback. There's some hard days that you don't want to give it your all, but you have to. You got to be consistent and I really appreciated dad for that.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, I mean, unique jobs, blue collar jobs, we all share kind of a need to work hard and be consistent. I love those two lessons that you both shared there. Last thing for you guys, where can people find out more about International Signing Day, the Home Builders Institute, and everything you guys got going on?
TONY GAROPPOLO: Well, they could go to KleinTools.com, or they could go to Home Depot, or Home Builders Institute, all three will have information. And it's just a great way of getting the word out and hopefully this helps.