Jimmy Garoppolo addresses Erin Andrews interview, says he uses 'baby' 500 times a game

A week after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went viral with his postgame comments to Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews, he’s explaining himself.

Garoppolo made headlines from sports to lifestyle sites and more for his interview after last week’s “Thursday Night Football” game in which the 49ers improved to 8-0.

“Feels great, baby,” Garoppolo said with a look-back.

He explained to reporters Thursday that he didn’t mean to go viral and was simply excited about the start.

“I say baby like 500 times a game to my teammates and stuff. It wasn’t like that,” he said.

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Garroppolo was called out for being flirtatious and “shooting his shot” with a married woman. Andrews is married to two-time Stanley Cup winner Jarret Stoll. More prescient, some took issue with the implied misogyny. It was the combination of the comment, his body language and the way he looked back at Andrews and the camera. Coupled with a pet name, it didn’t sit well.

Andrews retweeted Joe Staley’s tweet quoting his comment with hand clap emojis. After Garoppolo’s interview hit Twitter, she retweeted it with “exactly.”

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