San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo thinks the controversy surrounding new teammate Nick Bosa’s past conservative tweets, is media driven.
Bosa, the 49ers’ 2019 first-round pick, caused a stir when some past tweets surfaced criticizing Beyonce’s music and the Black Panther movie, along with calling anthem-protestor Colin Kaepernick “a clown.”
Garoppolo was on a media tour recently promoting Klein Tools and SkillsUSA with his father, a retired electrician, but most of the question were about Bosa.
On Yahoo Sports, he was asked if Bosa’s tweets are something “players talk about?”
“No, that is something the media and people outside the locker room talk about,” Garoppolo told Yahoo. “Once you get inside that locker room, it’s all football, and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.”
On ESPN, host Ryan Smith asked if tweets about Beyonce and Kaepernick “matter?”
“Once you step inside that locker room, it’s one of those places you can be yourself,” Garoppolo told ESPN. “There are a lot of different opinions, people come from different backgrounds. At the end of the day, we are there to win football games. As long as he’s a good teammate, we’ll welcome him.”
Smith also asked Garoppolo if he will talk with Bosa about his “social media presence?”
“I haven’t talked to him about it,” Garoppolo said. “I had a quick second to meet him after he got drafted.”
Garoppolo also hopped on Fox Business with host Stuart Varney who brought up Bosa’s political tweets.
“I want to ask you about your teammate Nick Bosa, you know what I’m talking about, he deleted a lot of Pro-Trump tweets before he was drafted, well now he’s going to play with the 49ers, your team, you think there are going to be any issues about his politics?” Varney asked.
“Not in the locker room,” Garoppolo told Varney. “Those kind of things aren’t really discussed. The locker room, once you get into that facility, it’s all about football, about being a good teammate, about putting the team first.”
Trump tweeted support for Bosa after the 49ers drafted the former Ohio State star.
“Congratulations to Nick Bosa on being picked number two in the NFL Draft. You will be a great player for years to come, maybe one of the best. Big Talent! San Francisco will embrace you but most importantly, always stay true to yourself. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump tweeted on April 27.
Recently, 49ers defensive back Richard Sherman said that as long as Bosa plays well, his past tweets won’t matter.
“One thing about football is that nobody really cares what you say if you can play,” Sherman told the Sacramento Bee. “At the end of the day, I think a guy that has played with African Americans his whole life, not saying he can’t be racist, but they know how to maneuver around African Americans.”
And Garoppolo is happy Bosa, a talented pass rusher, who is adept at pressuring quarterbacks, is on his team.
“I’m glad he’s on our side and I don’t have to go against him, that’s for sure,” Garrapollo said.
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