Jimmy Garoppolo certainly hopes his return to New England goes smoother than when he left.
At the very least, he hopes to not almost die.
During the latest edition of NBC Sports Bay Area's "49ers Talk," hosted by Matt Maiocco and Laura Britt, Garoppolo told a wild story of nearly dying after he was traded by the Patriots to the San Francisco 49ers.
Garoppolo was dealt Oct. 30, 2017, and the next morning -- on Halloween, no less -- he almost was involved in a car crash on Interstate 95 (of course) while riding in a limousine to T.F. Green International Airport outside Providence, R.I.
Here's Garoppolo's story, as transcribed by Maiocco:
“A car jumped off the exit ramp, and was coming downhill at us, toward the driver’s side window
“I just saw headlights and the driver reacted, got us off into a ditch. It happened so fast. I’m in a panic in the backseat, like, ‘Holy … we almost just died, man.’
“The driver turned around -- I’ll never forget it -- he was like, ‘Whoa! That was awesome!’ And I was like, ‘That was not awesome. That was crazy. But great job!'
“It was an interesting morning. Definitely a great start to coming out west.”
Anyone who has traveled on I-95 in Massachusetts or Rhode Island surely will find Garoppolo's story totally believable. Such things happen on the wild west of highways.
Garoppolo will play the Patriots for the first time since the trade when he and the Niners visit Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
