Former 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo channels his inner 'Top Gun'

49ers fans who love the Top Gun movies will probably appreciate what their former quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, is up to.

It's probably going to be a while before San Francisco 49ers fans stop talking about their former starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, who was with the team from the middle of 2017 all the way through 2022.

Now with the Las Vegas Raiders, Garoppolo's stamp on the Niners is still being felt. And for many, his free-agent departure in 2023 still stings.

Fortunately, Garoppolo is still enough of a public figure so that fans of his can still pay attention to what he's up to. Additionally, even though it might pain fans of the red and gold to watch him in the silver and black, it's not quite as if he went to a hated division rival like the Seattle Seahawks.

At any rate, Garoppolo is still living a tremendously interesting life, and the folks over at USAA ensured that interesting life would continue with the quarterback partaking in a unique exercise with the elite group of United States Air Force fighter pilots, the Thunderbirds.

Even though it's the Air Force and not the US Navy, one might have the tendency to whistle the Top Gun anthem or sing "Highway to the Danger Zone" while watching the below video, courtesy of Whistle Sports and USAA.

Jimmy Garoppolo looks a lot like Maverick in latest USAA feature

"I feel the need... the need for speed."

Well, Garoppolo didn't quite say those words when he got ready to take flight with the Thunderbirds as part of Whitle Sports "I can do that" campaign with USAA.

He did say this, though:

"Preparation is everything, and the Thunderbirds [training] is very similar to being in the league. There’s an endless amount of possibilities in football … but when you’re prepared, you don’t get that nervous feeling, you’re excited to put on display what you’ve been studying and what you’ve been working on."

Related story: Jimmy Garoppolo throws shade at 49ers after failed Trey Lance experiment

While partaking in maneuvers within the famed F-16 Fighting Falcon, Garoppolo joined the exclusive 9G club, which put 2,000 pounds of pressure on his body during the intense maneuvers.

The only question is whether or not Val Kilmer was on the ground asking to be his "wingman anytime."

Probably not, but it's still pretty cool.

Until the next time the 49ers and Garoppolo square off, best of luck, Jimmy G.

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