It was a long time coming for the Detroit Lions and Jared Goff.
Goff finally has his first victory as a member of the Lions thanks to his walk-off touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the final play of this afternoon’s divisional matchup at Ford Field against the Minnesota Vikings. An elated Goff immediately leapt into the arms of head coach Dan Campbell, who also picked up his first win since his return to the organization he once suited up for.
But afterwards, Goff kept things in perspective. The metro-Detroit community and Michiganders as a whole are still coming to terms with the horrific act of violence earlier this week at Oxford High School that saw a troubled student gun down four of his classmates and injure several more; he and his parents are both in custody.
A visibly emotional Goff took to the podium following this afternoon’s game, stating that he hopes that he and his teammates were able to be a light and a positive to all of those who are in mourning right now.
“Sometimes, special things happen in special circumstances,” he said. “I think you say yesterday what Michigan did against Iowa, and us today getting our first win. You never hope for a tragedy like this, but you hope to be a light for those people and a positive thing they can have fun watching today. I hope they were able to enjoy the win and take their minds off for whatever it may be, three hours. I think any time we can od that, it’s bigger than our sport and bigger than us. It was one of those special circumstances where we were able to rise to the occasion and make something special happen.”
Of course, Goff was referencing the fact that Michigan scored a total of 42 points last night, matching the jersey number of the late Tate Myre, a football player who perished in the tragedy.
– – Quotes via Detroit Lions Lions – –
