Jared Goff sits on the bench in street clothes, hand on chin, while the Rams play at San Francisco in 2016. (Getty Images)
It was supposed to be a glorious homecoming for Jared Goff.
In 2016, five months after the Rams made the Marin County native and former California star the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, Goff was on the field at Levi’s Stadium for the season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.
Goff did not play. He was not even in uniform.
A player the Rams proclaimed as their franchise quarterback was inactive, coach Jeff Fisher saying the previous week that Goff was “not ready.”
So with family, friends and a “Monday Night Football” audience looking on, Goff watched journeyman Case Keenum struggle in a 28-0 defeat. And those close to Goff observed how he navigated the beginning of his NFL career.
Jared Goff examines one of his father’s commemorative baseballs in the family’s home in Novato, California, a suburb of San Francisco. (Sam Farmer / Los Angeles Times)
“It was a tough start there,” Mazi Moayed, Goff’s coach at Marin Catholic High, said this week in a phone interview. “But he’s handled things gracefully, and I think he’s done a great job of that his whole career.”
On Sunday, Goff returns to Levi’s Stadium riding a wave of momentum. A player who led the Rams to a Super Bowl and then was discarded two years later has been at the forefront of the Detroit Lions’ drive to the NFC championship game. A victory over the top-seeded 49ers would send the Lions to the Super Bowl for the first time.
Goff had a 3-6 record against the 49ers when he played for the Rams. He is 2-2 at Levi’s Stadium.
“I grew up a Niner fan and I was able to get all those ‘playing in front of the Bay Area team’ done when I had my time with the Rams,” Goff told reporters in Detroit this week.
Read more: NFL conference championship picks: Which teams will go to the Super Bowl?
“So, yeah, it’ll be fun to be able to play a big game there, but I’ve played…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/humbling-jared-goff-began-levis-110537091.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-01-26 11:05:37
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