The world has made the list and the verdict has been rendered: Of the NFL’s four remaining quarterbacks, Jimmy Garoppolo somehow ranks fifth.
In fact, by making it to the NFL’s final four, Garoppolo may be taking even more — to borrow Nick Bosa’s term — crap than he has all season. If that’s even possible.
A social media war was ignited Wednesday when ESPN’s Mina Kimes became the latest commentator to mock Garoppolo’s performance. Former 49er quarterback Jeff Garcia responded by attacking not Kimes’ opinion but the fact that she was a woman talking about football, in the most sexist example of toxic masculinity since, well, at least Tuesday.
As for Jimmy G.? Insider reports say he shrugged, smiled and went back to the game film of Aaron Donald.
Does he care about the critics? He’s in his second NFC Championship Game in three years. In his two healthy seasons as a starter, the only two that he has been able to start more than six games, he has taken his team to the NFC Championship Game both times.
One more win and he will be in his second Super Bowl. Meaning he will have gotten a team as far as it can go in his only two full seasons as a starter.
And yet the venom continues.
How does Garoppolo handle the slings and arrows aimed his way on social media and talk radio? Does he go full-LeBron James and delete his social media apps? Does he exist in a cone of silence?
“Well, friends and family, they always seem to remind me of those things,” Garoppolo said. “I think just knowing yourself and knowing who you are plays a big part of that. Because if you get lost in it and start believing some of those things, it could take you down the wrong road.
“I think it’s just about knowing yourself as a player, as a person. And as long as these guys in this locker room have faith in me and belief in me, that’s all I really care about.”
And, oh, do they have faith in him. It has been there all season but lately Garoppolo’s teammates have felt the need to voice their belief. Here, on the eve of the 20th game of the season, they’re sick that their leader — and make no mistake, Garoppolo is their leader — is under constant attack.
After the Packers game Sunday, 49ers teammates George Kittle and Bosa lashed back at the anti-Jimmy brigade.
“You can’t say enough about that guy,” Kittle said. “The s— that he takes. People try to pull him down and all he does is try to deliver. He leads this team. He has a sense of calm in the huddle, a sense of calm in the storm.”
Bosa said he was impressed with Garoppolo’s “demeanor, as a leader. A lot of people give him crap for whatever, but he’s as cool and collected as a quarterback as I’ve ever had. He’s a perfect guy to lead us where we need to go.”
Linebacker Fred Warner smiled when asked how the team retains its trust in Garoppolo. Again, the end goal of playing football is the answer.
“We’re able to maintain trust in him because we keep winning,” Warner said. “If you went down the list in order of importance based on position, quarterback is No. 1. A football team’s success is heavily dependent on the quarterback position.
“Jimmy is playing great football. He does exactly what we need him to do. He comes into work every single day and is the exact same person. He’s not on social media looking at what everyone’s tweeting about him. Who knows what he does outside the building but as soon as he comes inside, he’s the exact same person. He always comes to work, trying to get better.”
Wednesday morning, 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel joined in, tweeting, “Kraxy how y’all have so much to say about our quarterback … Check His Win Percentage… Okay I’ll Wait. Pure Winner @JimmyG_10.”
Win percentage? In Green Bay, Garoppolo won his fourth playoff game as a starter (4-1 for an .800 winning percentage) and his 50th overall game as the 49ers’ starter — 35-15, a .700 winning percentage. Throw in his two starts with the Patriots — both wins — and his career winning percentage as a starting quarterback in the NFL is .712.
If Garoppolo advances to another Super Bowl, he will join elite company. Twenty-one quarterbacks have made multiple Super Bowl starts, including 13 Hall of Famers. Nine of those 21 have made exactly two starts: Bart Starr, Len Dawson, Jim Plunkett, Joe Theismann, Brett Favre, Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes and Craig Morton.
Only Morton lost both starts, playing for two different teams. (It could be worse; Fran Tarkenton lost three and Jim Kelly lost four without a win.) Dawson, Favre, Theismann, Wilson and Mahomes are 1-1, though Mahomes could earn a third trip to the Super Bowl this weekend.
Getting to the Super Bowl is hard. Maybe 49ers fans were spoiled by all those trips in the dynasty years.
Yet if Garoppolo advances to another NFL championship game, we’ll hear him compared to some of the lesser Super Bowl quarterbacks, like Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson, Mark Rypien and Jeff Hostetler. He’ll be denigrated. The toxic venom will be unleashed.
Will Garoppolo care? Probably not. But his teammates might. And the man who’s harder than anyone on his quarterback, head coach Kyle Shanahan, is pleased by that response.
“It shows what our guys think of him, and it shows they’re on social media and feel the need to stick up for him,” Shanahan said. “What they say is the truth. He’s done an unbelievable job and doesn’t get enough credit.”
This 49ers team has shown a lot of fight. And one thing it is doing right now is fighting for its quarterback.
Ann Killion is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @annkillion
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/annkillion/article/Social-media-beatings-on-field-wins-Jimmy-16811609.php
