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Eric Woodyard, ESPN
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — For quarterback Jared Goff, the past is the past.
Neither he nor members of the Detroit Lions are trying to make Sunday’s NFC wild-card playoff game against Goff’s former team, the Los Angeles Rams, led by his former coach Sean McVay, into an individual contest.
“We win as a team,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Man, this is about the Lions versus the Rams, and we win with three phases here and he’s a huge part of that and all he’s got to do is do his part and he knows that.”
But that chip from being traded is still there, according to the veteran Lions quarterback.
“Of course,” Goff told ESPN. “I think it’ll never leave me, and I think that’s a good thing.”
In 2021, the Rams traded Goff, a 2021 third-round pick, a 2022 first-round choice and a 2023 first-round selection to Detroit in exchange for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Although Goff admitted that things fell apart in Los Angeles after he started in Super Bowl LII, he still has an appreciation for McVay — and Stafford — as the Lions prepare to host their first home playoff since the 1993 wild-card matchup against the Green Bay Packers, back when they still played at the Pontiac Silverdome instead of Ford Field.
“Obviously, we had our differences there at the end, but he’s a great coach,” Goff said of McVay. “He’s a guy that taught me a lot.”
McVay said Wednesday that he acknowledges now that Goff “deserved better” than how his exit from Los Angeles was handled.
“The thing that I’ll never run away from are mistakes that I’ve made in previous instances. 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,” he said.
“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.”
Stafford, 35, remains Detroit’s all-time leading passer and led the Rams to a Super Bowl title in his first year following the swap. It’ll also be his first time returning to Detroit since the trade after a 12-year run with the Lions.
However, he failed to win a postseason game in Detroit, which is a rare opportunity that Goff has in front of him. In his third year with the Lions, Goff has experienced a career renaissance, leading Detroit to a 12-5 season, tied for the most wins in franchise history.
He also joined Stafford (2011) as the only players in team history to produce at least 4,500 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns in a single season this campaign.
Erik Kramer was the last Lions quarterback to win a playoff game, back in 1991, and Goff wants to join that list.
“Ton of a respect for him and him as a player and everything he’s done, 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,” Goff said of Stafford to ESPN.
There’s a personal connection to the Rams organization for Goff, wide receiver Josh Reynolds and Lions general manager Brad Holmes, among others, in Detroit, but Campbell says Goff’s even-keeled demeanor has benefited the team in a week that’s filled with tantalizing storylines. That helps keep the focus on winning for Detroit.
“I think it means a lot,” Campbell said of Goff. “And he’s wired the right way. He’s been through this. He’s been to the big one. So, he’s dealt with this a number of times, not just the playoff wins.”
Reynolds spent four seasons with the Rams from 2017 to 2020 but called the days leading up to the contest “just another week.” He hasn’t noticed any differences with Goff’s preparation entering this playoff game, either.
“Another game,” Reynolds said.
Goff said he has grown tremendously as a player, person and a leader while pushing through the early adversity he has had to overcome in Detroit and wants the fans to experience a victory more than anything else.
“I so badly want to win a playoff game for this city that hasn’t had one in so long,” Goff said. “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.”
ESPN’s Sarah Barshop contributed to this report.
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