James (Jimmy) Richard Garoppolo was born and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He comes from a close Italian-American family and is the third of four brothers. He played football at Eastern Illinois University and broke records during his college football career.
In 2013, when Garoppolo was a senior, he broke Tony Romo’s school records for career passing touchdowns, career passing yards, and passing touchdowns in a season and won the Walter Payton Award.
Garoppolo was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. In 2017, he was traded by the Patriots to the San Franciso 49ers.
He will play in his first Super Bowl when the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Garoppolo backed up Tom Brady in 2014 and 2016 and describes what he has learned from watching him in previous Super Bowls in the video here
