Jimmy Garoppolo is a very, very fast learner.
His mother wouldn’t let him play football until he was almost 12 years old. In his sophomore year in high school, at age 15, he started working out at quarterback. When the varsity coach said he needed a quarterback in Jimmy’s junior year, he tried out and got the job. He had just volunteered for what some say is the most demanding, difficult, complex position in team sports.
The rest is a very spectacular history.
In the next six years, he climbed a huge athletic mountain; from Rolling Meadows High School to the threshold of pro football. Garoppolo is an award-winning college All-American and will likely be drafted by a National Football League team this spring. Some NFL scouts and experts say he may be one of the better quarterbacks in the 2014 draft.
Having a blast watching all this are his grandparents, Anthony and Jane Garoppolo of Sun City. Jimmy’s parents are Anthony and Denise of Arlington Heights.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s football card at Eastern Illinois University. (Photo Provided)
“It’s so amazing and exciting for us to realize he’s come so far this fast,” Jane said.
She and Anthony have lived in N.35 for the last four years. Their 6’3”, 222-pound grandson has just completed a season most young athletes only fantasize about. The 22-year-old capped off a record-breaking career at Eastern Illinois University last month by winning the Walter Payton Award, the highest honor given to the top player in the Football Championship Subdivision by the Sports Network. This honor ranks second only to the Heisman Trophy in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
He also was named the FCS Quarterback of the Year by the College Football Performance Awards organization. More than 20 recent CFPA winners have been first-round NFL draft selections in the last two decades. The list goes on. Garoppolo was the FCS Offensive Player of the Year this past season and has been named All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA, Spots Network, and Walter Camp organizations.
At the annual East-West Shrine all-star game in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Jan. 18, with dozens of NFL scouts watching, he completed 9 of 14 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in leading the East squad to a 23-13 win. He has also been invited to play in this weekend’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., another showcase game in which most of the players are from FBS-level schools.
“He’s dropped out of school now to concentrate on preparing for the NFL draft in May,” Jane said. “He and many other college seniors are playing in all-star games, preparing for special pro football camps, and then planning to go to the NFL combine in the spring, just prior to the draft.”
In a post-Shrine game interview, Jimmy said, “I got into a nice rhythm, and my receivers played very well, and we just went down the field.” While he doesn’t run much, he has developed the consistent ability to take only a step or two back after the snap, enabling him to get rid of a short pass quickly.
“The best part of this is his character,” Jane said. “We are so proud and thankful for whom he is, plus what he is doing. He is a wonderful young man, loyal, respectful, and family-oriented. He takes time to be with us often, and he texts us all the time. What is happening to him now is a dream come true for him and to watch that is a huge thrill for us.”
For all you stat people out there, consider these on Jimmy: He put together the finest season ever in the Ohio Valley Conference last fall by smashing virtually every OVC season and career record. He led the EIU Panthers to a 12-2 overall record and a berth in the FCS national quarterfinals. He threw for six touchdowns in a 49-39 loss to nationally ranked Towson College in that game. In 14 games last fall, he completed 375 of 568 passes (66 percent) for 5,050 yards and 53 touchdowns, against only 9 interceptions. He threw for 400 yards five times, and 300 yards or better six times. He was especially productive against FBS teams, including 361 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-19 win over San Diego State and six touchdowns in a four-point loss to nationally ranked Northern Illinois.
Eastern Illinois’ success in the 2013 season and Jimmy’s individual numbers have propelled him into the middle of the 2014 NFL draft mix. Projections on Jimmy vary from being picked as high as the second round to a few rounds later. His EIU coach, Dino Babers, rates Jimmy the second-best quarterback he has ever coached, behind only Robert Griffin III, now a starter for the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
Meanwhile, the entire Garoppolo clan is enjoying the wild but fun ride.
“Managing his rising NFL potential became a part-time job last fall,” Garoppolo’s mother Denise said in an interview for a college football website.
His father, Anthony, who has attended every one of Jimmy’s college games, said he and Denise have talked to at least a dozen potential agents.
Jimmy comes from a big sports family. He is the third of four brothers, three of whom have football backgrounds. Tony, the oldest, played sports at Rolling Meadows and at Southern Illinois University and is now an architect. Mike, second in line, was an all-conference linebacker at Rolling Meadows and is a 2008 graduate of Western Illinois University, where he played football. He now is preparing for a teaching/coaching career. Billy, the youngest, is a junior at Rolling Meadows now.
Father Anthony adds to the pedigree by having played football at Leyden High School in Franklin Park.
The next chapter in this exciting story will be the NFL draft, held May 8-10 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and to be broadcast on ESPN and the NFL Network.
