WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — One of Jimmy Garoppolo’s great laments is that quarterbacks can’t be weight-room monsters.
Garoppolo was raised in Chicago, one of four defense-loving brothers. Tony Jr., his older brother, was a lineman. Mike was a linebacker, and Billy, the youngest, was cornerback.
Jimmy wanted the same as Mike, the largest and most successful of the bunch. Mike was also the one who won a scholarship at Western Illinois to play linebacker. Jimmy also played linebacker in high school until he became a quarterback. Even after switching to offense, he didn’t stop lifting like a linebacker until he reached the NFL.
“In college I was obsessed with it,” he said this week. “There was a little too much weightlifting. When I reached the NFL, I had some toning to do. To throw every single day — you can’t be jacked up and rocked up. You have to be pliable and be able to do all these stretches and things.”
However, this season has been quite different. This is Garoppolo’s return to the weight-room. His early March shoulder surgery meant he couldn’t do much upper-body work or any throwing for the next few months. The result was the following: 49ers quarterback worked on his bottom half in a way he hadn’t been able to do in his first seven years in the league.
“I got to lift a little more weights in the lower body, more running, dropbacks, things like that,” he said. “Yeah, I think it was kind of a blessing in disguise. I was able to strengthen my skills and make the most of them.
