While there is plenty of uncertainty regarding Jimmy Garoppolo’s future, this much we know: the veteran quarterback’s 2024 season will be starting with a two-week vacation.
On Friday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Garoppolo has been suspended for two games after violating the league’s policy regarding performance-enhancing drugs. Subsequently, Schefter reported that the Las Vegas Raiders plan to release the 32-year-old signal-caller, just one year after signing him to a three-year, $67.5 million contract.
Suffice to say, Garoppolo’s tenure in Las Vegas didn’t go as planned, as he was benched midway through a lackluster season that also saw the Raiders fire head coach Josh McDaniels. That led nearly all of the football world to seemingly have the same reaction to the news of Jimmy G’s suspension: how effective could those performance-enhancing drugs really have been if Garoppolo’s 2023 season is what they resulted in?
We need to know what he was taking… so that no one ever takes it again.
Whatever it is doesn't work.— Randy Scott (@RandyScottESPN) February 16, 2024
[ESPN]
“performance enhancing” pic.twitter.com/L2CkRvaUKf
— Annie Agar (@AnnieAgar) February 16, 2024
They clearly didn’t work
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) February 16, 2024
I was a 100000% thought this was a fake account because……….LMAO…… This should be evidence why Barry Bonds should be in Hall of Fame https://t.co/lgfZpJjVAf
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) February 16, 2024
Imagine him without the PEDs https://t.co/U5G7LWGtxN
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) February 16, 2024
Get it? Performance-enhancing drugs are supposed to enhance your performance, not diminish it. But if Garoppolo took performance-enhancing drugs, only to to have the worst season of his professional career, then either they weren’t effective or they saved him from being an even worse quarterback than the one that we saw in 2023.
Obviously, there are a number of substances that fall under the NFL’s PED policy that aren’t directly linked to on-field performance, as steroids and testosterone are. As news of Garoppolo’s suspension — which stemmed from a prescribed medication that he hadn’t received an exception for — broke on Friday, ESPN’s Pat McAfee speculated on what might have led to the violation.
“Could be Viagra, could be Adderall, could be any of these,” the former All-Pro punter said. “You get therapeutic use for somethings, you have to go through like four or five different doctors… this TEU thing is a real thing is a real deal throughout the NFL, but everybody knows the process, but it’s a long one, it’s a tedious one.”
Jimmy Garoppolo has been suspended two games for violating the NFL's PED policy#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/sPN0KhA0n5
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 16, 2024
It was just four years ago that Garoppolo was a quarter away from helping lead the San Francisco 49ers to a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. That goes to show how quickly a player can go from being the toast of the league to the butt of its jokes.
[ESPN]
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.