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For Chicago native Jimmy Garoppolo, signing with Jordan is a dream come true

Ryan Young
Staff writer
San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Chicago-area native Jimmy Garoppolo signed with Jordan this summer. (Getty Images)
San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Chicago-area native Jimmy Garoppolo signed with Jordan this summer. (Getty Images)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo finally has a brand he can call his own — and in his mind, it’s the perfect fit.

Garoppolo has signed with Jordan — Nike’s subsidiary brand founded and built by NBA legend Michael Jordan — over the summer, according to ESPN. The official announcement is expected next week.

And for the Chicago-area native, who grew up while Jordan was still in the league, he couldn’t be happier.

“Since I got in the league, it was one of my dreams to be with Jordan and it came true, so I’m pretty excited about it,” Garoppolo told ESPN.

Garoppolo grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. And even though he was very young when Jordan was playing in the NBA — he was 6 when Jordan won his last championship in 1998 — Garoppolo remembers watching games with his family and the excitement Jordan brought that city.

“I was pretty young, but even when they were winning those championships, I can remember staying up with my three brothers, mom and dad — we’d all be in the living room watching it,” Garoppolo told ESPN. “It was so exciting. Ever since I was a little kid, he’s been my favorite athlete, so it’s pretty cool to be part of his brand now.”

Since joining San Francisco last season, Garoppolo hasn’t been focused much on anything other than football — which is totally fair, as it’s his first true starting quarterback job since he was drafted into the league in 2014. He played in six games for the 49ers last year, completing more than 67 percent of his passes and throwing seven touchdowns.

According to the report, the 26-year-old was weighing Under Armour, Adidas and Nike when trying to choose a brand this summer. Now with Jordan, Garoppolo will become the first starting quarterback in the NFL to represent the brand, and joins Earl Thomas, Jalen Ramsey and DeShone Kizer, among others in the league, under the Jordan umbrella.

While he said he isn’t working on any big marketing campaigns with it yet, and he’s still building his “own brand,” Garoppolo said that’s coming in the near future.

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