Media frenzy over Jimmy G-String, and Johnny Football weighs in
Who would have thought Jimmy Garoppolo could be the most polarizing athlete in the NFL? Ever since he had a dinner date in Beverly Hills with an actress, Kiara Mia, who starred in Bra Busters, Naughty America, Mommie’s Busting Out, and Hot and Mean.
Sporting pundits were aghast that the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers would be seen in public with a woman who refers to herself on Twitter as the “No. 1 international porn star.”
Jason Whitlock delivered the most crushing blow when he chortled on Fox Sports 1: “Jimmy G-String. He’s got a freaky side, a real freaky side. It’s going to be like: Is he distracted? Does he have some kind of addiction issue? Is he Tiger Woods? If he doesn’t play well, all those questions are going to be asked.”
Britt McHenry, FOX5 DC, agreed: “Jimmy Garoppolo is the franchise quarterback of a prominent NFL team. He should have more values and class than parading a porn star in LA.”
Sporting News columnist Michael McCarthy warned of offending “family values-oriented fans who view pornography as unsavory at best and illegal at worst.”
There are questions about the effect on the locker room. Already a subtle dig from Garoppolo’s new teammate, star cornerback Richard Sherman, when asked about his communication with the QB. “We talk about a lot,” Sherman said. “The strengths and weaknesses of certain defenses, people he likes to take on dates. . . “ And he laughed out loud.
But if some see him as Jimmy G-String, others think he’s channeling Jesus sipping wine with a prostitute.
He goes out with a woman who has cups that are more like gallons, and he’s become one of the most envied men in America and at the same time one of the most ridiculed.
Among the admirers is Johnny Manziel. Which, I know, is like being endorsed by Charlie Sheen. But for what it’s worth, Johnny Football, who makes his first start in the Canadian Football League this week, said on a Barstool podcast: “What’s wrong with it? Dude, let the guy live his life. So what? What she does for a living?”
Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports sees Kia as so toxic that “Manziel just ended his NFL career after his comments on Jimmy G.”
I find it difficult to judge Garoppolo. I struggled to decide if he was trending up or trending down. I’m thinking how thrilled and proud I might have been at 27 to have that opportunity for an evening’s entertainment. OK, any age. And how I would have basked in a review like this one she gave to TMZ: “Jimmy and I had an amazing dinner. He’s as sexy as fuck.”
I’m thinking he had a wonderful evening, so isn’t that good? But then I think, like Whitlock and Cowherd, that his job is more important than what most of us are hired to do. He’s salaried at $25 million to be the leader of more than 50 men.
“Face of the franchise” is not an empty phrase. Was he being irresponsible? He’s branded himself, permanently, as flaky, distracting, unpredictable.
San Francisco being San Francisco, he probably helped himself in his new home town. He’s living in a city that’s long celebrated the unconventional. What Garoppolo did is far from bizarre by his community’s standards. I lived there when I was 14, and the woman next door sunbathed nude on her back-yard deck while smoking powerfully aromatic cigarettes. I’m sure she was aware of teenaged boys peeking through hedges.
I can’t imagine many of Garoppolo’s millennial teammates castigating him for consorting with a movie star, even if she has no Oscar nominations and is slightly faded at 41. They may respect him now more than before. Who knows how many of the 49ers have seen Kiara videos? Pornography websites in the USA attract 100 million viewers per day.
Of course, Garoppolo’s coach, Kyle Shanahan, was not happy to be questioned on this off-topic. He said as little as possible but expressed confidence that the player will be able to deal with “what comes with that stuff.”
Garoppolo said, “My life is looked at differently now. I’m under a microscope. Like Kyle said, this is a good learning experience.”
The GQ QB was dating a Boston-based model Alexandra King. When she heard of his evening with Kiara, Alexandra removed a social-media posting of her Valentine’s Day selfie with Jimmy.
Good learning experience?
Whatever enjoyment and delightful memories he received from his date with Kiara, there’s been a narrowing of Garoppolo marketability on Wall Street. That’s where family values have considerable value, and hypocrisy is easily overlooked. He won’t be doing commercials for Wheaties or Diet Coke. As much fun as this escapade has given America, Garoppolo has let himself be defined in a way he may regret.