Tom Brady reached out to Jimmy Garoppolo ahead of Super Bowl

Former New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is preparing for his first Super Bowl appearance – and ex-teammate Tom Brady had advice for him.

After the New England Patriots traded away their two backup quarterbacks, from yesteryear, the two young Tom Brady disciples have gone on to have great careers thus far for different organizations. Jimmy Garoppolo was traded for a second round pick from the San Francisco 49ers, while the Jacoby Brissett trade with the Indianapolis Colts brought in wide receiver Phillip Dorsett.

Since the 2017 trades, Garoppolo has led the 49ers back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994, and Brissett has been solid enough to give the Colts and their fans some hope after their franchise quarterback Andrew Luck suddenly retired early in a shocking announcement last August.

The only common denominator between Garoppolo and Brissett is Brady himself and the New England Patriots.

The three quarterbacks grew a strong bond with each other and formed what Brady would call “The Wolf Pack” while they were all together once. The two young quarterbacks would even be added to Brady’s infamous list of people to attend the Kentucky Derby with him.

Even though Garoppolo is starting in his first Super Bowl, he does have two rings on his hand from the New England Patriots’ victories over the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons.

During Radio Row on Super Bowl Opening Night this past Monday, Garoppolo talked about his experience with the Patriots in the big game and what he learned from watching Brady up close for so long:

"“He was awesome. Everything he did, I never tried to be much of a pest and ask too many questions, but just watching him from afar how he went about his business, how he handled off-the-field things, on the field, whatever it was, he always did it the right way. So he gave me a good example when I was young.”"

Although Jimmy didn’t play in the Super Bowls with New England, he’d go on to say that he would still learn valuable lessons and take away experiences with him that he can now put to good use as he leads his own team through the Super Bowl.

Here’s more of what he said, courtesy of NBC Sports’ Charean Williams:

"“Just to be consistent. He was very consistent the entire week of the process, during the game. In the Atlanta game, everyone knows we didn’t start the best, but he came out in the second half throwing some dimes. The media stuff, the longer halftime, I’ve been talking to guys who haven’t been here before about what it’s like. I didn’t play in the game, but I’m trying to use it to my advantage. Pressure is always there. If it’s not in a game of this caliber, something’s wrong.”"

Jimmy spent three years in New England and still has relationships with some of his former teammates, including Brady. Although it might be bittersweet for some fans of the New England Patriots to see him succeed on such a big stage, Jimmy Garoppolo could very well earn his third Super Bowl ring on Sunday night.