The Eastern athletics department announced on Friday afternoon that former EIU football star Jimmy Garoppolo will be returning for a fundraiser for the athletics department on Sat., April 22 at 6 p.m. following the annual EIU Football afternoon spring game.

“An Evening with Jimmy G” will be a dinner event held at Lantz Arena and will have tickets available for 250 guests with tickets being $200 for individuals and $350 for couples according to a release by EIU athletics.

The Illinois native had quite the career with EIU. He held nine single-season records and six career EIU records that he broke. He held two single-season records and four career records for the OVC and held two single-season records he held in all of the FCS during 2013. He led the Panthers to a 12-2 overall, 8-0 OVC season during his senior year. He was able to lead them to the NCAA D1 playoffs where they made it to the quarterfinal, but lost to Towson.

Garoppolo picked up a lot of hardware during his senior year as he was the Walter Payton Award winner, Ohio Valley Male Athlete of the Year, and FCS ADA National Offensive Player and Quarterback of the Year in 2013. He also participated in the Senior Bowl and in the East-West Shrine Bowl where he was the Game Offensive MVP.

He was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft as the 62nd overall pick by the New England Patriots.

Garoppolo is in his 8th season in the NFL and is currently a quarterback for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. He is facing free agency during this offseason, but he had a strong six-year career with the 49ers as he led the team to the playoffs three times and to the Super Bowl one time. He also won two Super Bowls while on the New England Patriots’ roster when he was backup to Tom Brady.