James Richard Garoppolo (born November 2, 1991) is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Illinois and was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, with whom he won two Super Bowls as the backup to Tom Brady.

As a senior in 2013, Garoppolo broke Tony Romo's school records for career passing touchdowns, career passing yards, and passing touchdowns in a season.^[1][2] That season, he also won the Walter Payton Award as the best offensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).^[3]

Garoppolo saw light duty behind Brady in his seasons in New England. In October 2017, Garoppolo was traded by the Patriots to the 49ers. He won his first five starts with his new team as quarterback, which, including his two victorious starts for New England, earned him a 7–0 record as a starter, a feat last accomplished by Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. Garoppolo then signed a $137.5 million deal with the 49ers, at the time the largest contract in NFL history on an annual basis. However, his second season with San Francisco was prematurely ended after he tore his ACL in Week 3 of the 2018 season.

Garoppolo was born and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois,^[4] and attended Rolling Meadows High School in Rolling Meadows and played as a quarterback and linebacker for the Mustangs football team.^[5] He played in 19 games at quarterback during his junior and senior seasons. He passed for 3,136 yards and 25 touchdowns.^[6] He is from a "tight-knit, big Italian family", and is the third of four sons born to Denise and Tony Garoppolo.^[7]

Garoppolo played football for the Eastern Illinois Panthers from 2010 to 2013.^[8] In his first year, he started eight games, passing for 1,639 yards and 14 touchdowns and earning All-Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer Team honors playing under head coach Bob Spoo. He went on to start every remaining game during his time at Eastern Illinois, passing for 2,644 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2011, 3,823 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2012, and 5,050 yards and 53 touchdowns in 2013, breaking the school record for career pass completions previously held by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.^[9][10][11]

In 2013, Garoppolo, playing his senior season in head coach Dino Babers's uptempo no-huddle offense, won the Walter Payton Award, given to the most outstanding offensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision.^[12] He was also named the 2013–14 OVC Male Athlete of the Year^[13] and the 2013 College Football Performance FCS National Quarterback of the Year.^[14]

Source:^[15]

Represented by Don Yee (who also serves as Tom Brady's agent),^[17] Garoppolo was considered one of the better quarterback prospects for the 2014 NFL Draft.^[18][19][20] The New England Patriots drafted him in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, with the 62nd pick overall.^[21] He was the first player from the Football Championship Subdivision drafted in 2014, and the highest-drafted quarterback the Patriots had selected since Drew Bledsoe was picked first overall in 1993.^[22] Garoppolo and Patriots signed a four-year contract worth $3,483,898 ($1,103,744 guaranteed) with a $853,744 signing bonus.^[23][24]

In 2014, Garoppolo made his regular season debut in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' Week 4 41–14 road loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. He led the Patriots on a scoring drive, which led to his first career passing touchdown on a 13-yard pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski on his first drive. He finished the game completing six of seven passes for 70 yards and one touchdown, with a passer rating of 147.9.^[25]

In his rookie season, Garoppolo played in six games. He completed 19 of 27 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown with a 101.2 passer rating and had 10 rushing attempts for 9 yards.^[26] While Garoppolo did not take any snaps in the Patriots' Super Bowl XLIX victory, he was credited with helping to prepare the Patriots defense for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.^[27]

In 2015, Garoppolo appeared in five games in relief roles. He completed 1 of 4 passes for 6 yards on the season for a 39.6 passer rating.^[28]

After starting quarterback Tom Brady was suspended by the league for four games for Deflategate, head coach Bill Belichick named Garoppolo the starting quarterback for the first game of the 2016 season, and he was expected to stand in for Brady for all four games.^[29][30] Garoppolo completed 24 of 33 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown in a 23–21 Week 1 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on NBC Sunday Night Football.^[31] He threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins before being sidelined with a shoulder injury in the second quarter of the 31–24 victory.^[32] He sprained his AC joint after a hit by Dolphins' linebacker Kiko Alonso that kept him out the next two games, giving the starting job to rookie Jacoby Brissett before Brady returned from his suspension in Week 5.^[33][34] In Super Bowl LI, Garoppolo was active for the Patriots' 34–28 overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons; he was the only active Patriot who did not play in the game.^[35][36]

During the offseason, Garoppolo was the subject of several trade rumors with the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns being cited most commonly as potential suitors.^[37][38][39] Ultimately, no trade occurred and Garoppolo remained with the Patriots going into the season.

On October 31, 2017, the Patriots traded Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the 49ers' second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.^[40] He made his 49ers debut in Week 12 in the final minute of the 49ers' game against the Seattle Seahawks after starter C. J. Beathard suffered an injury; those were his first snaps of 2017, as he did not take the field with the Patriots in 2017. On his first play as a 49er, he rushed for six yards; on the final play of the game, he threw a 10-yard touchdown to Louis Murphy. He finished the 24–13 loss completing both pass attempts for 18 yards and a touchdown.^[41]

On November 28, 2017, Garoppolo was named the starter for the 49ers' Week 13 game against the Chicago Bears.^[42] Making his first start for the 49ers on December 3, 2017, Garoppolo finished with 293 passing yards and an interception as the 49ers won 15–14.^[43] He recorded 334 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception in a 26–16 victory over the Houston Texans in Week 14.^[44] In the next game against the Tennessee Titans, he had a season-high 381 passing yards and a touchdown in a close 25–23 win.^[45] In Week 16 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had 242 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and his first career rushing touchdown in the 44–33 victory.^[46] In the regular season finale against the Los Angeles Rams, who were resting most defensive starters to prepare for the playoffs, he accumulated 292 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in the 34–13 blowout.^[47] His victories in Weeks 13–17 gave him a 7–0 record in his first seven starts (including his two starts for New England), making him the first quarterback to do so since Ben Roethlisberger accomplished the same feat in 2004.^[48] With Garoppolo under center, the 49ers scored on 62 percent of their offensive drives, 11 percent more than the second-place New England Patriots.^[49] For perspective, NFL teams scored on 35 percent of their drives in 2017, and the 49ers scored on just 29 percent of their 2017 drives without Garoppolo.^[50] Garappolo finished the 2017 season with 1,560 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, five interceptions, 11 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown.^[51]

Because Garoppolo was on the Patriots' roster for eight games before he was traded to the 49ers, an NFC team, he was eligible for payments from the league based on the Patriots' playoff performance; because the Patriots reached Super Bowl LII, he earned $107,000.^[52]

On February 8, 2018, the 49ers and Garoppolo agreed to terms on a 5-year contract worth a maximum of $137.5 million. At the time of its signing, it was the largest contract in NFL history on an annual basis, surpassing that of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. It also has nearly $90 million in guarantees in the first three years, also the largest total in NFL history.^[53][54]

On April 30, 2018, his peers voted him as the 90th best player in the league on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.^[55]

During Week 3 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Garoppolo finished with 251 passing yards for two touchdowns before leaving the game with a left knee injury. It was later revealed he tore his ACL, prematurely ending his season.^[56]

Garoppolo made his return from injury in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the game, he threw for 166 yards, one touchdown, and a pick six to corner back Vernon Hargreaves in the 31-17 win.^[57] In Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Garoppolo threw for 297 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception as the 49ers won 41-17.^[58]