Not every QB who trains with a future NFL star ends up in football. Before becoming a nationally known political commentator, Charlie Kirk was a high school QB in Illinois, and now, a resurfaced social media post has reminded fans how he once shared a training field with Super Bowl champion Jimmy Garoppolo.

According to a post from Recruits CFB on X, Kirk was once a real QB prospect. He trained alongside future NFL QB Garoppolo under renowned coach Jeff Christensen.

The post even revived an old tweet dating back to December 2017, after Garoppolo received his opportunity as an NFL starter.

“7 yrs ago I was training with @JimmyG_10 several times a week with @ThrowItDeep Jeff Christensen,” Charlie Kirk wrote. “For years, Jeff said, ‘Jimmy is going to go down as one of the best NFL QB’s of this generation.’ He is a great guy who applied everything Jeff said. Congrats, Jimmy G!”

Garpollo even shared a screenshot of that particular tweet after Kirk’s passing in September last year.

Both grew up in neighboring Chicago suburbs. Kirk attended Wheeling High School while Garoppolo starred at Rolling Meadows High School, located barely 20 minutes away. The tweet suddenly carries a different weight now because it offers a glimpse into an alternate version of his life when football remained the priority. Still, the numbers suggest that the road would’ve been challenging. 

Kirk’s ESPN recruiting profile from the Class of 2012 paints the picture of a respectable high school QB rather than a major college prospect. At 6’3″ and 195 pounds, he had the size, but his reported 5.09-second 40-yard dash wasn’t good enough by modern QB standards. Still, it was good for a pocket passer coming out of high school.

Garoppolo stayed on the football path and made the most of it. After playing at Eastern Illinois, he was selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. But it was with his second team that he truly became the player his high school coach believed he was. He helped lead the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance and had one of his best seasons in 2019, throwing 3,978 Yards and 27 touchdowns. 

Kirk, on the other hand, chose a different path. The same year after his high school graduation, he founded Turning Point USA along with Bill Montgomery. He was just 18 then. Then, he went to Harper College for a while but didn’t complete his studies as he turned to politics. It’s easy to wonder how different things might be if he had stuck with football. But in the end, both men found success in very different worlds. 

Even so, the fact that they once trained together remains an interesting chapter in both of their stories. And even years after football stopped being his profession, he never stopped being a fan.

Charlie Kirk was a true Oregon Ducks fan

College football still remained one of his biggest passions throughout Kirk’s life, particularly when it came to Oregon. The connection between Kirk and the Ducks ran deeper than many fans knew. His wife Erika shared that passion in an emotional statement days later, following his assassination during a Turning Point USA speaking event at Utah Valley University.

“My goodness, did he love the Oregon Ducks,” she said. “He’d want me to say ‘Go Ducks.’”

According to OutKick founder Clay Travis, he was a die-hard supporter. He attended Oregon’s dramatic 32-31 victory over Ohio State in 2024 and frequently discussed college football with friends.

“I didn’t talk much about politics with @charliekirk11, we talked about college football,” Travis wrote on X. “He was a monster Oregon Ducks fan, loved them, built his events around their game times. I hope you let the team know @CoachDanLanning and I hope you guys do something to honor him.”

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning publicly addressed the September tragedy and condemned political violence.

“Life matters, you know, I think we’ve lost sight of that,” he said.

He added that such violence “should never exist in our country” while offering condolences to the family. Oregon honoured him by holding a candlelit vigil outside the university, where about 1,000 people gathered to pay their respects. Charlie Kirk may not have followed the same football path as Jimmy Garoppolo, but the game remained an important part of his life till the end.