Jimmy Garoppolo’s Raiders press conference hit with weird delay
Jan 27, 2020; Miami, FL, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo during Super Bowl LIV Opening Night at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Las Vegas Raiders fans might have found themselves a bit concerned Thursday when Jimmy Garoppolo’s scheduled introductory press conference did not happen.
Garoppolo was to be introduced by the Raiders on Thursday, but the scheduled media availability simply did not happen. Journalists initially had no reason for the unexpected delay.
We are now two hours beyond the scheduled start time for the press conference for new @Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo.
— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) March 16, 2023
Making matters even weirder was the fact that Garoppolo was clearly in town. The Raiders’ Twitter account had posted video of him arriving at the team facility earlier in the day, clearly indicating that they had not been anticipating any delay either.
Look who it is 😁 pic.twitter.com/LRMoxUF9AM
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) March 16, 2023
Reports later indicated that the two sides were sorting out a contract issue and that the press conference would be pushed back to Friday. Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported that things were “all good” and there were no concerns about the deal ultimately being finalized.
Regarding Jimmy Garoppolo's postponed news conference, source with knowledge of the situation just said, "All good." So it doesn't sound like there are any issues finalizing the deal. Just a postponement. @TheAthletic
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) March 16, 2023
Raiders fans could be forgiven if they had concerns. While the sport was different, we saw one huge free agent signing delayed and ultimately voided just before the press conference had been set to start earlier this year. Add in that Garoppolo is coming off shoulder surgery and things definitely looked a bit sketchy.