New Lions quarterback Jared Goff speaks with LA Times Sam Farmer about being traded to Detroit for Matthew Stafford.
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The NFL can be a cruel business. One moment you’re quarterbacking your team in a Super Bowl, and then less than two years later, they are unceremoniously shipping you away for a better option.
“Ultimately, they wanted to go in a different direction,” Jared Goff said to L.A. Times Sam Farmer in an exclusive interview following a trade that sent him to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford.
“You don’t want to be in the wrong place,” Goff continued. “It became increasingly clear that was the case. [The trade] is something that I’m hopeful is going to be so good for my career.”
It’s been well documented that L.A. Rams coach Sean McVay and Goff’s relationship had soured recently, and while Goff was unsure when it happened, Famer pointed out several incidents that were red flags. In one example, Farmer noted that in late November after a Rams loss to the 49ers (a two turnover day for Goff) McVay shifted blame off of himself and pointed to Goff as needing to stop turning the ball over.
NFL coaches typically prefer to keep criticism in house, so when a coach points out a star player’s mistakes publically, it usually points to the beginning of the end.
Further adding fuel to the fire, once the Rams’ season concluded, GM Les Snead was vague when speaking about Goff’s future with the organization, and just a few days later, Goff was traded to the Lions.
“When you first hear it, it’s difficult, it’s disappointing,” Goff said to Farmer. “But you get so excited that you get a fresh start. You get to be somewhere you’re believed in. That clearly wasn’t the case here anymore.”
Goff and Farmer would go on to discuss the quarterback’s work in the community, including teaming up with California Strong, a charity focused relief for families who lost their homes due to wildfires, as well as his official clothing line that raises money for Inglewood schools in California.
“L.A. became home for me,” Goff said to Farmer. “It’s a place where I put my roots in the ground. Being able to affect the community in Inglewood over the past year or two has been the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life.” And while Goff will be headed to Detroit, he plans on continuing his work with the California based groups.
It’s a mature stance for the 26-year-old to take, as he is trying to do his best to leave LA on a positive note, while also starting his career fresh in Detroit — and the Lions are welcoming him in with open arms.
Farmer noted that after the trade, Goff spoke with Lions’ general manager Brad Holmes — former director of college scouting with the Rams — and offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn. After that conversation, Goff told Farmer, “it what made me go, ‘oh my God, this is how it’s supposed to feel. This makes me feel great,’ how excited they were, how fired up they were.”
Goff would go on to say that he was “grateful” and “ready for a new opportunity”, noting that he was proud of what he accomplished in LA, while at the same time excited to bring passion to Detroit and hopefully a whole lot of “success for a long time”.
