Lions QB Jared Goff says chip from Rams trade will 'never leave me'
Jared Goff might've moved on from the Los Angeles Rams trading him to the Detroit Lions in 2021, but that doesn't mean there isn't still a chip on his shoulder.
The Lions quarterback, speaking ahead of his team's wild-card game Sunday night against the visiting Rams, said he will not be using this game to exact any personal vendetta.
Things fell apart, Los Angeles sent him to Detroit in exchange for quarterback Matthew Stafford and some draft picks, and everyone is where they are at this point. And where they are is Goff helped lead the Lions to their first NFC North title since the 1993 season, and Stafford returned from an injury-plagued 2022 to help the Rams get back to the playoffs.
Even though the matter has been put to rest, especially given that Goff already faced his former team on Oct. 24, 2021, in Los Angeles, that doesn't mean he can't have some fun with it.
"Of course," Goff said via ESPN. "I think it'll never leave me, and I think that's a good thing."
Said Lions head coach Dan Campbell: "I think it means a lot. ... And he's wired the right way. He's been through this. He's been to the big one [a Super Bowl]. So he's dealt with this a number of times, not just the playoff wins."
For his part, when Rams head coach Sean McVay looks back at the situation, he said he wishes he would've handled it differently.
"The thing that I'll never run away from are mistakes that I've made in previous instances," McVay said Wednesday. "But when you look back on it, the gratitude for those four years, all the good memories that we had. And then when you end up making a change, that ended up being difficult. And could it have been handled better on my end? Absolutely. And I'll never run away from that.
"But the further you get away from it, the more that you try to grow as a man, as a person, as the leader that you want to become. He deserved better than the way that it all went down. I'll acknowledge that. And I think he knows that, too. And I'm not afraid to admit to those things, but I think we're all better being able to look back on those things. And I do have more appreciation for him as time goes on."
In the house that Stafford built, Goff has a chance Sunday to do something his predecessor never did: win a playoff game for the Lions. In his 12 years in Detroit, Stafford, the franchise's all-time passing leader, never won a postseason game. Stafford found immediate playoff success, however, with the Rams, as he helped them win Super Bowl LVI over the Cincinnati Bengals in his first season.
While many expect Stafford to receive a warm welcome ahead off the game, Stafford isn't disillusioned by what will happen when he steps foot on the field.
“I’m not expecting anything, to be honest with you,” said Stafford. “I was asked this question a couple of times just by friends and family. I think the biggest thing for me is go experience whatever that experience is gonna be.
“I understand what the people of Detroit and what the city of Detroit meant to me and my time, my career, what they meant to my family. I hope they feel that back. At the same time, I’m not a stranger to the situation and understanding that I’m the bad guy coming to town. I’m on the other team, and they don’t want success for me.”
Goff is still searching for his first Super Bowl title after losing 13-3 to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. This year might prove to be one of his best opportunities. Goff led the Lions to a 12-5 record this season — which tied for the most wins in franchise history — and joined Stafford as the only quarterbacks in team history to throw for 4,500 yards and 30 touchdowns in a season.
"Ton of a respect for [Stafford] and him as a player and everything he's done," Goff told ESPN. "He's a Hall of Fame player in my book, and I saw this as an opportunity for me to build my own legacy and being at the ground floor of something special and something that we can hopefully build to even more special than right now.
"I so badly want to win a playoff game for this city that hasn't had one in so long. We've got a home playoff game for the first time in so long, and that's so much more important than anything personally for me. I want to be a part of this win and do my job the best of my ability."
