Charlie Kirk throws football with Jimmy Garoppolo in resurfaced clip

Nypost · May 29, 2026 · 378 words · By Thomas L Murray

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What to know about Charlie Kirk throws football with Jimmy Garoppolo in resurfaced clip

Before Charlie Kirk was a right-wing political commentator, he was a football player.

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Before Charlie Kirk was a right-wing political commentator, he was a football player.

Why it matters

Images have surfaced across the internet of Kirk practicing alongside former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo when the two were in high school.

Common ground

Kirk and Garoppolo grew up in Illinois and attended high school nearly 20 minutes apart from one another.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Charlie Kirk throws football with Jimmy Garoppolo in resurfaced clip?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Garoppolo’s football career continued after high school, playing college football at Eastern Illinois, and he eventually was drafted by the Patriots in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/29/sports/images-show-charlie-kirk-practicing-with-ji…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 5

check_circle Corroborated 5

verified Verified By Reference 3

info Single Source 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified

Claim 1: “Garoppolo’s football career continued after high school, playing college football at Eastern Illinois, and he eventually was drafted by the Patriots in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and official draft records confirm Garoppolo played for Eastern Illinois and was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the intercollegiate athletic programs of Eastern Illinois University (EIU) located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The Panthers athletic program competes at t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Illinois_Panthers

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — James Garoppolo (born November 2, 1991), nicknamed "Jimmy G", is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Eastern Illinois Panthers, setting school records for…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Garoppolo

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Following is a list of notable Eastern Illinois University alumni.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Eastern_Illinois_Unive…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 2: “videos have recently resurfaced showing Kirk’s arm strength, as he could sling the football 50-plus yards.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While one Instagram source mentions Kirk proving people wrong with a football at a stadium, there is no corroboration from multiple independent sources regarding specific videos of him throwing 50+ yards.

help

Claim 3: “San Francisco ended up losing the game to the Chiefs”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results for this specific claim, although it is a widely known historical fact that the 49ers lost Super Bowl LIV to the Chiefs.

schedule

Claim 4: “After he graduated, he briefly attended college at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois, but didn’t end up finishing, as he went on to focus on building up Turning Point USA with Bill Montgomery.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 5: “Kirk remained an avid football fan and was seen supporting the Oregon Ducks, as well as taking pictures with former Oregon and current Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 6: “Images have surfaced across the internet of Kirk practicing alongside former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo when the two were in high school.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including a Facebook tribute and a web article, mention images and clips of Kirk practicing or training alongside Jimmy Garoppolo in a clinic/high school context.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Arlington Heights, Illinois. For a similar list organized alphabetically by last name, see the category page People from Arlin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Arlington_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_49ers

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 se…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Brady

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 7: “In 2017, Garoppolo was traded to the 49ers.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and NFL.com confirm the trade of Jimmy Garoppolo from the Patriots to the 49ers in October 2017.

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web search NEUTRAL — Jimmy Garoppolo · New England Patriots (2014–2017) · San Francisco 49ers (2017–2022) · Las Vegas Raiders (2023) · Los Angeles Rams (2024–2025).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Garoppolo

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web search NEUTRAL — The Patriots announced today that they have traded QB Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2018 second-round draft pick. Oct 31, 2017 at ...
https://www.patriots.com/news/patriots-trade-qb-jimmy-garopp…

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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 30, 2017 ... We have our whopper trade of 2017. The New England Patriots have traded quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers, the Niners ...
https://www.nfl.com/news/niners-acquire-jimmy-garoppolo-in-t…

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Claim 8: “Since Kirk’s death, Garoppolo has not released a statement.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “Before Charlie Kirk was a right-wing political commentator, he was a football player.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Charlie Kirk played football prior to his career as a commentator, including a specific clip of him throwing with Jimmy Garoppolo.

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web search NEUTRAL — Sep 15, 2025 ... Standing on the 50-yard line of the Liberty University stadium, Kirk is ready to prove them wrong. With a regulation-size football in hand and ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOoFGyBjDVt/

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web search NEUTRAL — He briefly attended college before dropping out to focus on building TPUSA with political donor Bill Montgomery. The project later expanded into affiliate ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kirk

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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2026 ... Before Charlie Kirk was a right-wing political commentator, he was a football player.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/charlie-kirk-throws-footba…

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Claim 10: “Garoppolo attended Rolling Meadows and was a three-sport athlete, playing football, baseball and basketball.”

CORROBORATED

Wikipedia and web search results confirm Garoppolo attended Rolling Meadows High School and played football, baseball, and basketball.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Rolling Meadows is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 24,200.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Meadows,_Illinois

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Rolling Meadows High School, RMHS, is a public four-year high school located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High Sc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Meadows_High_School

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 11: “When Kirk was assassinated in September 2025, Oregon coach Dan Lanning spoke about the event”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 12: “Garoppolo, who recently played for the Rams, is a free agent and has reportedly been considering retirement after a 12-year career.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 13: “Kirk attended Wheeling High School and was a two-sport athlete, playing football and basketball.”

CORROBORATED

Wikipedia confirms Kirk attended Wheeling High School. Other web sources confirm he was a two-sport athlete playing football and basketball, specifically noting he was a basketball standout.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Charles James Kirk (October 14, 1993 – September 10, 2025) was an American right-wing political activist, entrepreneur, and media personality. He co‑founded the conservative student organization Turn…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kirk

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Wheeling High School (WHS) is a public four-year high school located in Wheeling, Illinois, United States, a northwest suburb of Chicago. It is part of Township High School District 214, which also in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeling_High_School

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Wheeling Jamboree was a country music radio broadcast in the United States. The Jamboree originated in 1933 in Wheeling, West Virginia on WWVA, the first radio station in West Virginia and a 50,00…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeling_Jamboree

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 14: “Kirk and Garoppolo grew up in Illinois and attended high school nearly 20 minutes apart from one another.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web sources explicitly state that Kirk and Garoppolo grew up in Illinois and attended high schools located nearly 20 minutes apart.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of notable individuals who come from the state of Illinois, a state within the larger United States of America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Illinois

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+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 15: “In 2019, he led the 49ers to a Super Bowl, throwing for 3,978 yards and 27 touchdowns that season.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia explicitly lists Garoppolo's 2019 stats as 3,978 passing yards and 27 touchdowns, and confirms he led the team to the Super Bowl that season.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — This article is about the year 2019. For other uses, see 2019 (disambiguation). Clockwise from top-left:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Garoppolo finished the 2019 season with 3,978 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions to go along with 62 rushing yards and a touchdown in 16 games ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Garoppolo

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jan 1, 2023 · Explore the events of 2019, from political turmoil to climate activism, and royal births, as we bid farewell to the second decade of the 21st century.
https://www.thefactsite.com/year/2019/

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.