The San Francisco 49ers saw enough from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in five starts last season to sign him to a then-record $137.5 million contract in February.
The quarterback to whom fans quickly likened Garoppolo -- Hall of Famer Joe Montana -- wants to see more.
Montana, who led the 49ers to four Super Bowl titles, said as much Tuesday during an appearance on NFL Network's Good Morning Football, when asked about those deeming Garoppolo a savior of the recently downtrodden 49ers franchise.
"I think it's still a little early for it myself," Montana said. "He's obviously had a lot more success in the games he's played in so far than the other quarterbacks that have been there recently. So I think there's a lot of excitement in the Bay Area about it.
"I think this year will be a big tell on it. They paid a lot of money for him. But I think there's some belief there that he'll be there for a while."
Acquired in an Oct. 30 trade with the New England Patriots for a second-round pick, Garoppolo started and won the final five games of the season with a 49ers team that had been 1-10. The victories included games against the playoff-bound Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams in the final three weeks.
The 49ers inked Garoppolo to a five-year extension in February (since surpassed as the largest in annual earnings by Kirk Cousins' deal with athe Minnesota Vikings). That, combined with the 49ers' finish in 2017, has contributed to higher expectations for the team in 2018 -- which, Montana said later Tuesday on Sirius XM satellite radio, Garoppolo will have to show he can handle.
"I still want to see a full season played," Montana said. "Because it's easy to come in at the end of a season when the team's down and no one's expecting things and be able to win. I won't say it's easy -- that's a bad word to choose -- but I think it was set up for him to be successful that way."
Creature of habit
Washington State Coach Mike Leach is a fan of raccoons. He talked about his affinity for the masked creature late last year in an article for the Players Tribune.
"At my place in Key West, raccoons will show up sometimes and I'm always happy when they do," Leach wrote. "I named my pet raccoon after one of my favorite book characters, Bilbo Baggins."
That was in his childhood days. But Leach has had plenty of interactions with raccoons since then. In his media availability after Washington State's spring practice Tuesday, the Cougars head coach detailed one particularly interesting one.
Leach was asked about the weirdest animal he's seen on his famous walk to work.
"I tracked a raccoon one time in the snow," Leach replied. "I was in a neighborhood, and I was just curious where this raccoon lived, you know."
Leach followed the tracks in the snow for, what he calls, a half of a mile out of his way into a neighborhood, "just to sort it out."
As for what else Leach has found on his walks to campus? He mentions a few animals, including hawks, owls and foxes, but Leach gave a warning about one in particular.
"If you walk up on a quail and they're under the snow, it will lift up right in front up and will scare the hell out of you," Leach said.
Sports on 04/13/2018