By Matt Weiner (@mattweiner20) – MBB Beat Reporter
As the old adage goes, “you never want to be the main character on Twitter.”
Jeff Garcia, former San Jose State and 49ers quarterback, released the following tirade on Instagram on Jan. 27 and found himself in the eye of the media storm.
Very few replied back with the Amen he requested. For good reason.
Mina Kimes, the pundit he publicly castrated, is a living and breathing sports monument. Genders aside, few people in National Football League media have the analytical expertise, charisma and insight as she does.
Garcia is allowed to disagree with Kimes about her opinion of 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo, in fact it’s welcomed. Little sports industry secret, if everyone agreed on the same thing sports media would plummet.
ESPN’s roundtable debate shows like “First Take” are meant for two people to see the same game with a different point of view. What isn’t hunky dory, is turning the argument from sports to a personal attack. Calling her a “joke” and ordering “fans to laugh at her” is a proverbial slap in the face.
If you come for the queen you best not miss. Garcia missed.
There are deep tones of misogyny in his statement that perpetually continue the narrative that women don’t have a seat at the table in sports.
Then there is the remedial lack of critical thinking by insinuating that if you’ve never played a down in the NFL, then you’re banned from making any valid comment about it.
In that case, anyone who isn’t a pilot should be barred from making any comments about a flight being bumpy. Or, you have to hit powerful notes like Whitney Houston to have an opinion on the Grammys.
Hypothetically, if an almighty power made a commandment that “thou shall play professionally to have an opinion on said sport,” then the entire media industry would shrink tremendously. Media titans like Skip Bayless, Big Cat, and Stephen A. Smith would disappear.
The point Kimes made about Garoppolo, that infuriated Garcia was that he wasn’t a valuable asset and was replaceable for the 49ers. A fair statement that many agreed with.
Heading into the 2022 NFC Championship game against the Rams, Garoppolo has averaged 121 passing yards per game with five picks and two touchdowns, in his playoff career. During the win in the Divisional round against the Packers, he had a quiet 131 yards, zero touchdowns and one pick. In the Wild Card game against the Cowboys, he didn’t throw any touchdowns and relied upon Deebo Samuel and Elijah Mitchell. Here’s another statistic that validates Kimes’ opinion of Garoppolo.
As fate would have it, the 49ers blew a 10-point lead to the Rams in the NFC Championship largely because Garoppolo couldn’t make any magic happen down the stretch. The 49ers went punt-punt-interception in their final three drives of the season.
Immediately following the game, Garcia went private on Instagram breaking an unwritten rule of the internet: never throw rocks and hide your hands when trolls mount up against you.
Garcia is allowed and would be well received for having Garoppolo’s back, but as soon as he started using crass slander, it’s no longer fairplay.
He later went on to 97.5 FM “The Game”, local Bay Area sports talk show, and doubled down on his comments.
“I stood up for, not my teammate, but a fellow 49er,” Garcia said in the clip above.
In the same clip, he pointed a finger at the hosts for “falling victim to the media circus.” Oddly enough any time you point one finger, there are three pointed back at you.
For Spartans’ fans this is a murky matter.
On one hand Garcia, is a fountain of nostalgia and one of the notable alumni the program has to offer. Throw in the fact he played for the 49ers and it’s a ten-out-of-ten feel good story.
On the other hand is a man who lost the respect of many when he unleashed the post.
Permanently attached to his name is a ruthless denigration that ultimately blew up in his face.
Ethered into oblivion. Dwelling in an abyss with other beloved athletes who tarnished their reputation with one click of a send button.