Raiders Wish Jimmy Garoppolo A Happy Birthday After Benching Him
How do you bench your QB1 one day and wish him a Happy Birthday in the same week ...
Call it a lack of self-awareness or just the cold business of the NFL but the Las Vegas Raiders are celebrating quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on his birthday. The wounds are still fresh on Garoppolo — just a day after being relegated to the backup role behind rookie QB Aidan O'Connell.
Garoppolo turned 32 on Thursday, and the Raiders put out celebratory posts on social media for Jimmy G., which felt a bit tarnished by the benching earlier this week.
Fans had fun ripping the organization for trying to sound excited about a guy they deemed as the problem on offense.
Then again, benching Jimmy G. was a flash of common sense by the Raiders; albeit a bit late.
Benching Garoppolo came after Mark Davis and the Raiders dismissed head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler on Halloween — late Tuesday night on the West Coast. When it comes to ruining a celebratory day for its personnel, the Raiders are the "Kansas City Chiefs" of buzzkills.
At 3-5, the Raiders and their derelict offense (ranked 31st in total offensive production) sputtered with Jimmy Garoppolo under center.
Garoppolo posted 1,205 passing yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions in six games this season.
(Will Aidan O'Connell out-play Garoppolo? Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com.)