Jimmy Garoppolo’s official introduction as a new member of the Raiders was delayed a little bit, but it finally happened on Friday.
The expectation is that Garoppolo will take over the offense in Las Vegas in a reunion with Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels. McDaniels was the offensive coordinator for the Patriots when Garoppolo entered the NFL and the hope is that he’ll pick the offense up quickly so that the team can have more success than they experienced with Derek Carr last season.
While that’s the expectation, Garoppolo stressed at a press conference that he is not coming to the team with a feeling of entitlement about his role in the offense or his role as a leader.
“I’m coming with the mindset that I need to earn everything — I don’t want to be given any ‘You’re the franchise guy,’ or whatever,” Garoppolo said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. “I want to come in and earn it. I think it will come through hard work, working with the teammates, being in the facility. All those little things will play a role. But yeah, I don’t want to be given anything; I want to earn it. Just because I’m the quarterback, I’m not the leader because of that. I want to be the leader because guys respect me and believe in me. . . . I think it will happen naturally. I don’t want to force anything, be inauthentic. I just want to be myself and it’s done me well in the past.”
Garoppolo went to a Super Bowl and a conference title game as a starter for the 49ers, but was seen as being along for the ride on those postseason runs. Authoring another one with the Raiders would likely create a different narrative about Garoppolo’s role in his team’s success.