49ers Garoppolo responds to accusation of being worst texter ever
Jimmy Garoppolo plays better than he does at returning text messages, though the 49ers quarterback somewhat defended his alleged flaw Wednesday during Super Bowl media access.
MIAMI — Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went on the defensive Wednesday night. Verbally. Not via text message.
Accused by George Kittle as “the worst texter of all time,” Garoppolo morphed back to his high school-linebacker days and hit back.
“There’s a little asterisk around there, because I will get back to him most of the time,” Garoppolo said a few hours after the 49ers’ practice for Super Bowl LIV. “It just happens three hours later than when he texted me.”
Really, though? Kittle, playfully, offered a different story at Monday’s Super Bowl Opening Night.
“He is the worst texter of all time,” Kittle said. “I’m telling you, he leaves me on ‘Read’ all the time. I’ll be like ‘Hey, Jimmy, I’ve got a question. Maybe on this play, should I run my route like this?’ No Response. ‘Jimmy, want to go to a movie?’ No response.
“And then next day he’s like ‘Yeah, I got your text. I just didn’t respond.’ Thanks, Jim. That’s awesome. So yeah, he’s a bad texter. Bad communication.”
#49ers Jimmy Garoppolo sets the record straight on George Kittle’s accusation he’s the world’s worst at text messages pic.twitter.com/Dryd2OOJBD
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) January 30, 2020
Garoppolo’s not-guilty plea only goes so far. He acknowledged after Wednesday’s media session — his third in as many days — that even his parents complain to him about not promptly returning their texts.
“Yeah, I’m just bad at it, man,” Garoppolo confessed. “I’ll look at my phone, say ‘I’ll text you in two minutes,’ put it down, then the next day comes and I’m like, ‘Damn.’ But he keeps me honest about it.”
To be fair, being the 49ers quarterback and one of America’s most eligible bachelors, he does get flooded with text messages.
Asked how many he got after clinching a Super Bowl berth with the NFC Championship win over Green Bay on Jan. 19, Garoppolo guessed “over 100.” That’s either him being modest and low-balling it, or an illustration of how few people have his phone number (although his Instagram account “jimmypolo10” has over 1.1 million followers.