Artist and San Francisco 49ers fan Rita Carvalho’s nearly year-long project of drawing Jimmy Garoppolo every day “until he gets traded” finally came to an end on Monday.
Although “Jimmy G. Garoppolo and the Las Vegas Raiders agreed that technically no trade had been made three years: $67.50 million deal Monday afternoon, meaning the 31-year-old will leave the Bay Area after six seasons with the team.
Carvalho’s work began almost exactly a year ago, in March 2022, when it seemed almost certain that Garoppolo would leave the 49ers. Instead, the former New England Patriots signal-caller remained in San Francisco for one more year on a restructured contract and agreed to be Trae Lance’s backup entering last season.
After Lance went down with a season-ending injury in Week 2, Garoppolo took over and eventually led the defensive committee in games started and tackles (11 and 10), completion percentage (67.2), passing yards (2,437) and passing yards. touchdowns (16) while throwing just four interceptions and posting a 7-3 record. The 2014 second-round pick suffered a foot injury in Week 13, and rookie Brock Purdy was the starter the rest of the way.
In July, according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, Garoppolo told the ABC television affiliate in San Francisco that he had seen the pictures and enjoyed them.
“Rita, I really appreciate it,” Garoppolo said. “It’s really cool, just the uniqueness of it. We’ll see how many more you have to draw.”