In case you don't remember, there was this trending offseason story about San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in 2018. No, it wasn't him signing a five-year deal with the team. The story surrounded a date Garoppolo had with adult film star Kiara Mia, which TMZ broke that summer.
"Never in my life have I commented on a player's date in July, so I'm not going to start today because I don't think it really pertains or matters to [general manager John Lynch and myself]," head coach Kyle Shanahan said when asked about the date. "But I do think that is a very good example ... sometimes you've got to learn how under the microscope we all are."
Garoppolo, who doesn't seek the spotlight, was surprised that everyone was making such a big deal of the date.
"Life is different now," Garoppolo said that July. "My life off the field, I've never really been big on being very public with things. Even (on) social media, I'm not out there a ton. But my life is looked at differently, and I'm under a microscope. It's like Kyle said, it is a good learning experience. You just have to take it in stride. I mean, it is what it is."
Recently retired offensive tackle Joe Staley joined the Bussin' with the Boys podcast and was asked about the incident. Did he and his teammates harass Garoppolo after TMZ broke the story?
"Oh, a ton," Staley responded. "What was funny was he was, in the moment, he was like, 'Well yeah, she talked to me. And what? Are you not going to respond?' He did not even think it was a big deal. Yeah, it's kind of a big deal, but you've got to know it's going to get blown up. He was like, 'Yeah, I don't know. We were in that bar for like 10 seconds. I don't know how someone even got a picture. So, whatever.'
"He was so casual about the whole thing. He did not care that he was in the news. He did not care about whatever. It's funny."
You can listen to the entertaining conversation with Staley below.