"While we know he will move on to play elsewhere in his professional career, we are proud that his home will always be Arlington Heights," read the village proclamation.
Before his NFL career, Garoppolo played college football at Eastern Illinois, which sits just 200 miles south of his hometown. At that time in 2014, he was preparing to begin his NFL career and wasn't sure where he would land.
Garoppolo called the possibility of playing for his hometown team, the Chicago Bears, a dream scenario. Instead, it was the New England Patriots that made him a second-round selection (No. 62 overall) and would later trade him to the 49ers in return for a pick in the same round.
While Garoppolo's hopes of playing for Chicago never came to fruition, his first start with the 49ers occurred on December 3, 2017, in front of a hometown crowd at Soldier Field. The 49ers defeated the Bears 15-14. Garoppolo led his team on a 14-play, 86-yard drive, before kicker Robbie Gould's game-winning field goal with four seconds remaining sealed the victory.
"I got to see my main family, close friends, college friends, hometown friends, all them after the game," said Garoppolo a few days after the win. "They were real excited. There was a lot of red in the stands. I knew where they were sitting, so I looked over there a couple of times. It was a good homecoming."
Garoppolo went on to win his next four starts with the 49ers.
"He's a handsome lad with an unbelievable future," joked Doug Millsaps, who was his football coach at Rolling Meadows High School. "And he's going to be rich."
Millsaps wasn't wrong. In February, the 49ers signed Garoppolo to a five-year contract worth up to $137.5 million. It was the largest NFL contract at the time.
Happy fourth anniversary of Jimmy Garoppolo Day. Thanks to the 49ers' official Twitter account for the obscure fact.
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