Jimmy Garoppolo
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40 free Jimmy Garoppolo trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Jimmy Garoppolo, known to fans as Jimmy G, has had one of the stranger careers of any modern NFL quarterback. A lightly recruited prospect from the Chicago suburbs, he rewrote the record book at a small college, spent years on the bench in New England behind one of the game's greats, then became the face of the San Francisco 49ers almost overnight after a midseason trade. This quiz follows the whole journey: his family and high school days, his college honors, the handful of starts that made him a hot commodity, the Super Bowl run with San Francisco, the injuries that kept interrupting it, and the later moves that turned him back into a backup. The first questions suit anyone who watched the 49ers of that era. Later sets reward fans who remember his teammates, his coaches and the odd details of individual games.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Jimmy Garoppolo spent his first four NFL seasons as the backup to which star quarterback?
Tom Brady
Tom Brady held the job throughout, so Garoppolo made only two starts in three and a half seasons with New England before he was traded.
Q 02Jimmy Garoppolo's 49ers led Super Bowl LIV by 10 with seven minutes left, then lost to which team?
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs scored 21 points in five minutes to win 31–20. Garoppolo finished with 219 passing yards and one touchdown pass.
Q 03Which scandal led to the four-game suspension that gave Jimmy Garoppolo his first NFL start in 2016?
Deflategate
Deflategate, the dispute over deflated footballs in a playoff game, sidelined the Patriots' starter for a month and put Garoppolo in the lineup.
Q 04Which rookie, the final pick of the 2022 draft, replaced the injured Jimmy Garoppolo that December?
Brock Purdy
Brock Purdy, that draft's Mr. Irrelevant, had opened the season as the 49ers' third-string quarterback. He kept the starting job for the rest of the year.
Q 05Which injury ended Jimmy Garoppolo's 2018 season in Week 3, months after he signed a record contract?
Torn ACL
A torn ACL in his left knee, suffered late in the third game, finished his year. Without him the 49ers slid to a 4–12 record.
Q 06Jimmy Garoppolo set career passing records at which FCS school, where he played from 2010 to 2013?
Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois signed him as a two-star recruit, and he left holding the school records for career passing yards and touchdowns.
Q 07Which Patriots star caught Jimmy Garoppolo's first NFL touchdown pass, thrown in his 2014 debut?
Rob Gronkowski
Rob Gronkowski caught it on Garoppolo's first drive, late in a 41–14 defeat. The rookie completed six of seven passes in the game.
Q 08Jimmy Garoppolo broke a college touchdown-pass record once held by which Dallas Cowboys quarterback?
Tony Romo
Tony Romo threw 85 touchdown passes at the same school, then joined Dallas as an undrafted free agent in 2003. Garoppolo passed him as a senior.
Q 09Which third overall pick was named the 49ers' starter over Jimmy Garoppolo before the 2022 season?
Trey Lance
Trey Lance's season ended with an ankle injury in Week 2, handing the job straight back to Garoppolo.
Q 10Jimmy Garoppolo left the 49ers in March 2023 to sign a three-year deal with which team?
Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders released him the following March, after he had started only six games for them.
Q 11Which head coach, hired by the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, coached Jimmy Garoppolo in Super Bowl LIV?
Kyle Shanahan
Kyle Shanahan was hired in February 2017 and saw his team trade for Garoppolo that October, midway through his first season in charge.
Q 12Jimmy Garoppolo helped the Patriots' defense prepare for which quarterback before Super Bowl XLIX?
Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson was the quarterback Garoppolo helped the defense get ready for. The rookie earned a ring without taking a snap in the 28–24 win.
Q 13Jimmy Garoppolo earned a second ring when the Patriots won Super Bowl LI in overtime against which team?
Atlanta Falcons
Q 21Jimmy Garoppolo won his first seven NFL starts, a feat last managed by which quarterback as a rookie?
Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger had last done it in 2004. Garoppolo's streak covered two starts for New England and five for San Francisco.
Q 22Jimmy Garoppolo finished one vote behind which quarterback for 2019 NFL Comeback Player of the Year?
Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Tannehill of the Tennessee Titans edged him by a single vote, after Garoppolo had returned from a major knee injury to start all 16 games.
Q 23Jimmy Garoppolo's 2023 move reunited him with which head coach, his former Patriots offensive coordinator?
Josh McDaniels
The Atlanta Falcons led 28–3 before losing 34–28. Garoppolo was in uniform but, as in his first title game, never took a snap.
Q 14Jimmy Garoppolo joined the Los Angeles Rams in 2024 as the backup to which veteran quarterback?
Matthew Stafford
Matthew Stafford was rested for the 2024 regular-season finale, giving Garoppolo his first start for the team: 334 yards in a 30–25 loss.
Q 15Which head coach named Jimmy Garoppolo his starter for the first four games of the 2016 season?
Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick made the call once his regular starter was suspended, though an injury cut Garoppolo's run short in the second game.
Q 16What did the San Francisco 49ers give the Patriots in the October 2017 trade for Jimmy Garoppolo?
A second-round pick
A second-round pick in the 2018 draft was the whole price, for a quarterback who then won all five of his starts that season.
Q 17Which honor for the top offensive player in FCS football did Jimmy Garoppolo win as a senior in 2013?
Walter Payton Award
The Walter Payton Award is named for an NFL legend who starred at Jackson State. Garoppolo won it after throwing for 5,050 yards in one season.
Q 18Jimmy Garoppolo's 2016 and 2022 runs as a starter both ended with injuries against which team?
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins were the opponent both times: he was knocked out of his second career start, then suffered a season-ending foot injury six years later.
Q 19Jimmy Garoppolo threw four touchdown passes in a 2022 Monday night game at which stadium abroad?
Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca in Mexico City hosted the 38–10 win over a division rival, part of the NFL's International Series.
Q 20Jimmy Garoppolo threw only eight passes in the January 2020 NFC Championship Game win over which team?
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers lost 37–20 despite facing so few throws. Garoppolo completed six of them for 77 yards.
Josh McDaniels was fired on the same day Garoppolo was benched, eight games into their reunion.
Q 24Jimmy Garoppolo won his first NFL start, a 23–21 road game to open the 2016 season, against which team?
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals lost at home as Garoppolo completed 24 of 33 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown.
Q 25Which sport did Jimmy Garoppolo call his first love, one he also played at Rolling Meadows High School?
Baseball
Baseball came first for Garoppolo, who was a pitcher for his high school team as well as its quarterback.
Q 26Jimmy Garoppolo was born and raised in which Chicago suburb, long known for its horse racing track?
Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights lies about 25 miles northwest of downtown, and its former racetrack was home to the Arlington Million.
Q 27Why was Jimmy Garoppolo suspended for the first two games of 2024, his first season with the Rams?
A PED policy violation
A PED policy violation cost him two games. Once eligible, he sat behind the starter until the final week of the regular season.
Q 28How did Jimmy Garoppolo give up a safety in an 11–10 loss to the Denver Broncos in 2022?
Stepping out of bounds
Stepping out of bounds at the back of his own end zone handed Denver two points in a game the 49ers went on to lose by one.
Q 29Which rookie started for the Patriots after Jimmy Garoppolo was hurt in the second game of 2016?
Jacoby Brissett
Jacoby Brissett started the next two games, then the suspended regular starter returned in Week 5 and both young quarterbacks went back to the bench.
Q 30Jimmy Garoppolo was the highest-drafted Patriots quarterback since which first overall pick of 1993?
Drew Bledsoe
Drew Bledsoe went first overall 21 years earlier. Garoppolo, taken 62nd, was also the first FCS player chosen in the 2014 draft.