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Jimmy Garoppolo Shares Some Details Of Bill Belichick's Congratulatory Postgame Text Messages

BOSTON (CBS) -- Bill Belichick drafted Jimmy Garoppolo out of Eastern Illinois in 2014, and it became pretty clear pretty quickly that the Patriots' head coach had taken a liking to the young quarterback. Belichick trusted Garoppolo enough as a rookie that he traded Ryan Mallett to Houston. Two years later, with Brady facing a four-game suspension, Belichick put his trust in Jimmy G. to handle the quarterback duties in the absence of the GOAT.

And though Belichick ultimately had to trade Garoppolo away during the 2017 season, the head coach remained fond of Garoppolo even after his move to San Francisco.

A 2018 report said that Belichick texted Garoppolo after each of his wins late in the 2017 season for San Francisco. On Monday at "Opening Night" for Super Bowl LIV in Miami, Garoppolo confirmed that those messages were sent. When asked by intrepid sports reporter Rich Shertenlieb from 98.5 The Sports Hub, Garoppolo shared the content of those messages.

"Uh you know, he just -- congratulations and things like that, just keep the thing going," Garoppolo said. "But Coach, we had a great relationship, he was always a great guy, very honest, very straightforward. I always appreciated him for that."

As for the frequency of the messages, Garoppolo said they have come in sporadically.

"It's every now and again. There's no real rhyme or reason to it, it's just whenever he feels like it," Garoppolo said. "But whenever he does, it's always an honor."

And when asked if Belichick ever uses any emojis or hip internet slang, Garoppolo replied with a classic Belichickism.

"What do you think? Do you think he uses them?" Garoppolo answered. "He's a big SnapFace guy, so ... ."

An answer like that? That's likely enough to earn Garoppolo another congratulatory text from Bill.

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