Goff: Rams sent me ‘to die’ in Detroit, but I was never going to allow that to happen
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff on a podcast earlier this week said his 2021 trade to Detroit changed his career and the time that has passed allowed him to appreciate how the move shaped his perspective on football and life.
“In hindsight, (being traded to Detroit) was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, for my career and my development as a human,” Goff said on the Trading Cards podcast, hosted by Will McInerny and Robbie McInerny, a former Goff teammate from California, where Goff grew up and spent his entire career before coming to the Lions.
In the podcast that ran just short of 90 minutes, Goff and the McInerny’s talked about the trade and Goff ’s immediate reactions and feelings, how he has grown as a person, player and leader in his three seasons in Detroit, his work with a performance psychologist, his relationship with Detroit media, the success of the 2023 Lions season and heading into 2024 with lofty expectations.
Goff said he knew what people would think of the trade when it happened and was happy to land in a situation that could help support him and put him in a position to succeed, after his tenure with the Los Angeles Rams ended on a “sour” note.
“Being shipped off and being sent to a place to die, essentially, is what a lot of people think it was and I was never going to allow that to happen,” Goff said. “I’m fortunate enough to be around a lot of good coaches and players in Detroit that support me and help me reach my potential.”
He said the overwhelming feeling he had once he got to the Lions was one of opportunity with a fresh start under a new head coach and general manager, who instilled their trust in him as the franchise was on the “ground floor” of an organizational rebuild.
The platform and trust given to Goff, now 29, by coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes was empowering, Goff said, which allowed him to grow as a leader in the locker room and on the field. Maturing as he has entered his late 20s with experience in nearly every situation in the NFL also helped.
“I think it’s been natural, I’ve just gotten older and you get more comfortable in your voice,” Goff said. “And I think there was an element to being empowered that happened in Detroit with Dan and a lot of the coaches and people there that were like ‘Dude no. You go. This is your thing, you go figure it out,’ whereas as a young player, that wasn’t always the case.”
Goff also spoke about his perceptions of the passionate Detroit fanbase and the local media that he has interacted with for the past three seasons. He said he could feel the passion and hunger of the fans and the connection between sports and the overall culture in the city of Detroit as soon as he arrived, and has only seen it grow as the Lions have improved from 3-13-1 his first season to going to the NFC championship game in 2023.
“It’s so ingrained in the culture there to be a sports fan and to raise your kids to root for the Lions or the Tigers or whoever it may be,” Goff said. “That’s been so fun for me to be a part of and to give those fans something to really be proud of the last couple of years.”
On the Detroit media, Goff said there is a big focus on negativity in the coverage, despite the success last season, from his perspective.
“I have this like, I probably need to drop here pretty soon here because hopefully I’m going to be in Detroit for a long time, but I have this thing with our local media where they almost like relish in negativity at times and maybe that’s what gets clicks and that’s what sells, but it’s no longer what they need to live in,” Goff said. “Like, hey guys, we have a good team, we’ve had success.”
That comment was sparked from a question about his interaction with a local reporter at news conference before the NFC championship game. Goff, who is eligible for an extension this offseason, was asked about San Francisco’s star-laden roster compared to Detroit’s. He answered by reminding that both Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell were first-team AllPro, and it wasn’t a fluke they ended up in that game against the 49ers.
“We can be happy about that, we can celebrate that and not have to write about how we’re constantly the underdog,” Goff said on the podcast. “Like no, teams are going to be gunning for us now, we won the division and all that. And I’m probably overthinking it in my head because its the chip on my shoulder and the competitor in me. In that moment, I was just giving that guy a hard time, I actually really like him.”
A few moments later, Goff added, “I guess the point was we’re here to stay, this isn’t some fluke season where we just caught lightning in a bottle. Like no, we’ve got good players on our team and we got good coaches on our team.”