SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – For the past six months, San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's uncertain future with the team has been creating a lot of buzz and for one artist in Portugal, those rumors have inspired a daily art project.
Rita Carvalo credited her boyfriend both for her love of the 49ers and for Garoppolo, who most believed would be either traded or released prior to the start of the 2022 season, with talented second-year quarterback Trey Lance slated to be the team's new starter.
The 25-year-old Portuguese artist has been posting a new drawing of him everyday since the speculation about his future began after the conclusion of last season, Garoppolo's fifth with the 49ers.
However, these aren’t your typical drawings of the 30-year-old quarterback in action.
"I kind of just try to search for pop culture, to movie posters, or an iconic scene or something like that that people always remember," Carvallo told KCBS Radio.
The drawings depict Garoppolo in a new, well-known situation, such as him asCaptain America, the Statue of Liberty or inside a popular meme. Her viral daily Twitter posts of the drawings, which consistently garner hundreds, if not thousands, of likes and retweets, always begin with the same wording: "Drawing Jimmy G every day until he gets traded" followed by what days she's on, which is currently 209.
She expected the project would come to an end when Garoppolo, who helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2020 and the NFC Championship Game last season, moved teams. However, the quarterback on Thursday stunningly agreed to a new, restructured contract with the 49ers that will keep him in San Francisco until 2023.
"When I got the news yesterday I was really overwhelmed," Carvallo said. "I was not expecting it, I mean I was expecting him to be either traded or cut."
Even with Garoppolo staying put, Carvalo said she’s planning on continuing the daily series, though she expects it will take a turn towards more traditional football scenes.
She said she hopes to collect all her drawings in a book someday.
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