SPORTS
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
East Oregonian
B3
Garoppolo takes lessons from Brady into first Super Bowl start
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer
MIAMI
—
Jimmy
Garoppolo had a front-row
seat in the best classroom
on the best way to prepare
for being a starting quarter-
back in the Super Bowl.
After watching Tom
Brady prepare for two Super
Bowl wins as his backup
on New England, Garop-
polo now gets the chance to
translate those lessons into
his first trip as a starter for
the San Francisco 49ers.
“I think just how calm he
was,” Garoppolo said about
what he learned watch-
ing Brady prepare for wins
over Seattle following the
2014 season and Atlanta
two years later.
“Everyone says you’ve
got to treat it like another
game, just the way he actu-
ally he did it. I was up close
and personal, picking up
everything I could, seeing
how he went about his busi-
ness and everything. And
obviously it worked out the
two times that I was there
with him.”
Brady is the most accom-
plished Super Bowl passer
there is, making nine trips
to the big game and win-
ning six of them, including
the two with Garoppolo as
his backup.
Both those wins were
memorable
ones
with
the Patriots overcoming
a 10-point deficit in the
fourth quarter to beat the
Seahawks and then rallying
from 28-3 down to beat the
Falcons in overtime.
The work for those
comebacks began long
before Brady went on the
field.
“You could see it, how
he is, his body mannerisms,
everything, just how he pre-
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo smiles Tuesday as he speaks during a media availability for Super Bowl
54 in Miami.
pares for it makes him con-
fident on Sunday,” Garop-
polo said. “And so, I’m
trying to do the same thing,
be ready to go and we’ll see
what happens.”
Garoppolo
said
he
received a congratulatory
text message from Brady
as he prepares for the game.
Garoppolo will try to join
former Niners great Steve
Young and Jeff Hostetler as
the only quarterbacks to be
active for a Super Bowl win
as a backup quarterback to
later go on and win the title.
If that happens, the
49ers will have the Patri-
ots to thank as the team that
has played in the past three
Super Bowls still has an
impact on this year’s game.
The rebuild of the 49ers
was fast-tracked midway
through the 2017 season
when the Patriots offered
to trade Garoppolo to
San Francisco for a sec-
ond-round pick.
With Brady showing no
signs of slowing down or
wanting to retire and Garop-
polo set for free agency the
following spring, coach Bill
Belichick decided to offer
him up to a franchise he
respected.
“It was a big step in our
ascension as an organi-
zation,” general manager
John Lynch said. “He made
us better as an organization
instantly. He’s a winner. A
lot of that is just inherently
who he is but I think the
‘Patriot Way’ helped shape
that as well. He had great
experiences there. All he
cares about is winning.”
That was evident from
the day Garoppolo arrived
in San Francisco to join a
team that started its first
season under coach Kyle
Shanahan with nine straight
losses.
Garoppolo began learn-
ing the offense immediately
and stepped in late that sea-
son to win the final five
games as a starter.
That performance led
Shanahan to change plans
and offer Garoppolo a
$137.5 million, five-year
deal that offseason instead
of following his original
plan of pursuing Kirk Cous-
ins in free agency.
“He just blew our minds,
the success he had when he
was out there with very lit-
tle preparation and a little
foundation of the offense,”
Shanahan said. “By the
time that season ended, I
thought it would be hard for
him to do, but he made our
decision very easy.”
Garoppolo’s rise was
delayed by a season-end-
ing knee injury in Week
3 against Kansas City in
2018 but he has played a
big role in the Niners suc-
cess this year even when he
isn’t asked to throw much
as when he had only eight
attempts in the NFC cham-
pionship game against
Green Bay.
He has four fourth-quar-
ter comebacks and ranked
tied for second in the league
with three games of at least
four TD passes in the regu-
lar season.
He also has become a
leader of the team, get-
ting praised as being “one
of the guys” in the locker
room but also showing the
willingness to crack down
when necessary.
“He’s not just one of
the guys, he’s the top
guy,” right tackle Mike
McGlinchey said. “He’s our
leader, he’s our guy, he’s the
top dog in our locker room.
In those types of moments
he has every credibility to
stay stuff like that because
of what he’s done and what
he’s built and the work he’s
put in day in and day out.”
The most VIP Super Bowl weekend
costs $1.5M and includes a butler
By KELLI KENNEDY
Associated Press
MIAMI — Private jet
service, a personal butler, or
how about a meal with for-
mer Patriots star Rob Gron-
kowski to top off Super Bowl
weekend? From legendary
nightclubs to exclusive par-
ties, no place caters to the
rich and famous quite like
glitzy Miami.
The city’s most luxurious
hotels, clubs and restaurants
are offering over-the-top
packages to entice big spend-
ers looking for action out-
side the end zone. One pack-
age includes a 4-day cruise
around the Caribbean on a
private yacht after the game
for $720,000.
On Location Experi-
ences’ Sam Soni says their
top Super Bowl package
last year in Atlanta went for
$17,500. This year’s top-
tier packages in Miami are
$20,000 to $35,000 and
include game tickets, a pre-
game party and show by
Darius Rucker and a chance
to mingle with football leg-
ends like Dan Marino and
Marcus Allen.
“We’ve seen just unprec-
edented sales for that prod-
uct,” Soni said. “It’s really a
three- or four-day event for
most of our clients. In Miami
having so many options
for entertainment and the
weather all certainly come
into play.”
Not all of those enjoy-
ing the perks will be paying
out of pocket, because many
of the high-end packages
are purchased by corpora-
tions. But Location Experi-
ences says many customers
also are wealthy fans who
just want to be a part of the
experience.
But it’s not all gitz and
glamour in Miami. Promo-
tions will likely focus on lux-
urious waterfront skylines
and not the poorer neigh-
borhoods of Allapattah, Lib-
erty City and Overtown,
where more than three-quar-
ters of residents are low-in-
come or low-to-middle
income. Many fans there
won’t be able to afford even
the lower-end tickets priced
at $4,400.
WHAT’S NEW
ON YOUR
SCREEN?
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Grow lights cover a portion of the grass field inside Hard
Rock Stadium on Tuesday in Miami Gardens, Fla., in prepara-
tion for the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game.
Thousands of fans will
descend on Miami just for
the nightlife and never set
foot inside the stadium.
“There’s just going to be
so many parties. And it’s
going to take over the city,”
said David Grutman, the
man behind some of South
Beach’s most exclusive clubs
and restaurants including
LIV, Story and Swan.
“Miami on its own is
always over the top, then
you put the Super Bowl on
top of it and it’s the perfect
recipe for decadence and
extravagance.”
Tables at LIV nightclub
are booking for $20,000
during Super Bowl weekend
— up from their usual cost
of $5,000. Grtuman said his
steakhouse has more than
tripled its order for steaks to
1,000 for Super Bowl week,
along with crates of caviar.
Here are some of the
blingiest packages for
high-rollers:
1. Tables on the patio
at Swan restaurant, which
Grutman co-owns with
singer Pharrell Williams,
are going for a minimum of
$10,000.
2. VIP tables to the
MAXIM magazine party
where The Chainsmokers
will perform on a private
island run around $20,000
unless you want to grab 11
of your closest friends and
hitch a ride on a private heli-
copter for $65,000.
3. Packages at Shaquille
O’Neal’s Fun House are
going for $30,000 to
$100,000 with the top pack-
age including 20 tickets to
the game, a chance to hang
with Shaq, your own pri-
vate security and 30 bottles
of champagne and liquor
to wash away any buyer’s
remorse.
4. Hanging with former
Patriots star Rob Gronkow-
ski at Gronk Beach will also
set you back six figures. His
$100,000 package includes
20 game seats and all the
amenities including table
and bottle service afterward,
plus he’ll stop by your table
for a chat.
5. The swanky 1 Hotel
South Beach is offering a
$1.5 million package for 20
that includes airfare, game
tickets, a private butler, lodg-
ing at 10 oceanfront homes,
a private dinner and a per-
sonal guru. Their cheapest
package will set you back
$200,000 and includes two
tickets on the 50 yard line,
a stay at a one-bedroom
oceanfront home and field
access after the game.
6. Private aviation com-
pany NetJets and luxury
yacht charter company
Northrop & Johnson teamed
up to deliver what may be the
most indulgent package of
all, coming in at a whopping
$720,000. Two guests will be
flown to Miami in a private
jet and put up in a suite at the
Ritz Carlton to rest up before
game day. After the game,
a private jet will whisk you
away to the Caribbean where
you’ll spend four days sail-
ing the tropical islands on
a 236-foot, six-stateroom
private yacht.
Find out with our SCREENtime
Entertainment Guide!
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SCREEN time
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