In light of the San Francisco 49ers trading their former No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Trey Lance, to the Dallas Cowboys, former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was asked to give his thoughts on the matter. American TV personality, Stephen A. Smith, was not pleased with Garoppolo’s choice of words.
Garoppolo was being interviewed by Sports Illustrated and asked to weigh in on the 49ers-Lance fallout, to which he replied: "Weird situation. Been a lot of weird situations over there in San Francisco, I’ll just leave it at that. But I’m happy Trey got another shot."
Smith was asked On ESPN’s First Take to comment about Garoppolo’s remarks and didn’t hold back:
"Jimmy Garoppolo needs to shut up." pic.twitter.com/TsmGvJV45f
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 30, 2023
"…Jimmy Garoppolo needs to shut up. Just shut up and play. Okay?" Smith said. He went on to say "Nobody wants to hear from you [Garoppolo]."
While Smith claims no one wants to hear from Garoppolo, the former 49ers quarterback was answering a question that was asked to him by Sports Illustrated. So clearly, someone is trying to hear from him.
That wasn’t the end of Smith’s rant. He alluded to Garoppolo’s lengthy injury history, implying that he cannot weigh in on the matter when his lack of availability was part of why the 49ers drafted Lance in the first place. "It’s rare that he plays," said Smith.
It got to the point where Smith was discussing Garoppolo’s dating life on national television, referencing the instance in 2020 when TMZ photographed the quarterback with adult film actress Kiara Mia when they were out to dinner.
"If he ain’t doing that, he’s with porn stars on Melrose Place in California." One of First Take’s co-hosts, Molly Qerim came to Garoppolo’s defense, saying "That happened one time."
That is when Smith claimed to have an inside scoop on Garoppolo’s dating life: "That you know of," Smith stated in response to Qerim. "I happen to know a little bit more than that. That’s why I call him ‘Porn Star Jimmy.’"
