Lions' Goff: Detroit media 'almost relish in negativity'
Lions quarterback Jared Goff thinks it's time for members of the Detroit media to embrace the team's momentum and leave behind the franchise's past failures.
"I probably need to drop it pretty soon because I'm hopefully gonna be in Detroit for a long time, but I have this thing with our local media where like they almost relish in negativity at times," Goff recently said on the "Trading Cards" podcast. "And maybe that's what gets clicks and that's what sells, but it's no longer what they need to live in."
The Lions won their first-ever NFC North title in 2023 and reached the NFC title game against the San Francisco 49ers. Detroit - which hadn't won a division title since clinching the NFC Central in 1993 - ultimately fell short in a 34-31 defeat.
"Hey guys, we have a good team. We've had success," the veteran passer added. "We can be happy about that, we can celebrate that and not have to write about how we're constantly the underdog. No, teams are gonna be gunning for us now. We won the division and all that."
While elaborating on the Detroit media's coverage, Goff specifically mentioned an exchange with a reporter during a January press conference leading up to the 49ers game in which he was asked about a perceived gap in skill between Detroit and San Francisco.
"I wasn't trying to be rude to the guy," Goff said, adding, "That's our own beat reporter that's been with us for three years. You haven't been in San Francisco. You know what our team looks like. Why do we gotta talk about how good their players are? Talk about how good our players are. That's like how I felt.
"Are we privileged to play this game because they have a bunch of good players? Like, is that what you're saying? So, I was like 'OK (Amon-Ra) St. Brown was first-team All-Pro. Penei Sewell was first-team All-Pro. Frank Ragnow. Sam LaPorta. You want me to keep going? I know they have a lot of good players. So do we."
The first overall pick in 2016, Goff began his career with the Los Angeles Rams and was traded to the Lions for quarterback Matthew Stafford during the 2021 offseason. The 29-year-old has passed for 78 touchdowns against 27 interceptions since joining Detroit.
In 2023, the Lions ranked fifth in total points and had their most wins in a season since 1991. Detroit - one of 12 teams that haven't won a Super Bowl - has significantly improved since Dan Campbell took over as head coach three years ago. The team won three games in 2021 and nine in 2022 before posting a 12-5 record in 2023.
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