When he first came into the NFL with the New England Patriots, Jimmy Garoppolo learned under the greatest quarterback to ever play the game in Tom Brady. Now as he takes over in his first season with the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady is still around to give Garoppolo a little extra motivation.
Brady is in line to be a minority owner of the Raiders, though a new rule change has put a bit of a roadblock in front of that bid. Even still, Brady was in the Raiders’ locker room prior to the team’s preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys, and he went viral after he told the Raiders to go ‘ruin’ the Cowboys’ night.
And as Garoppolo told Scott Thompson of Fox News, that was proof of Brady’s competitive spirit still being inside of him, and being in the locker room prior to the game brought it out:
“His competitive spirit, it still comes out even just getting ready for the Dallas preseason game,” Garoppolo said. “He was in the locker room with us. You can feel it — that competitive spirit was coming out a little bit. He was getting a little fiery.”
The energy and spirit that it takes to be a professional athlete is unlike anything else, and it is hard to move on from that when it’s been a part of your life for so long. Just a few months ago Brady was suiting up so being back in the Raiders locker room undoubtedly brought back those feelings and emotions as a competitor.
Now Brady will have to transfer all of that energy and fire into the business world and trust that Garoppolo can carry this mantle for the Raiders. The team has a ton of potential to make a run to the playoffs with plenty of offensive firepower and a young, hungry defense looking to prove a lot of people wrong.
But the key to everything will be Garoppolo who signed with the team this offseason. He has always been a winner when he has been on the field, but injuries have hampered him throughout his career, including a foot injury that ended last year and kept him off the field for much of the offseason.
Brady’s fire is what set him apart from the rest, and for the time being, he still looks to be part of this Raiders organization so he wants nothing but success from Garoppolo and this franchise.
