Oftentimes, when a player is preparing to face their former team -- particularly in a postseason matchup -- they won't reflect on the tenure they had with what's now their opponent.
But Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff admitted ahead of Sunday's Wild Card Round matchup with the Los Angeles Rams that he still draws inspiration from his former employer's decision to trade him in January of 2021.
"Of course," Goff said to ESPN's Eric Woodyard when asked if he still has a chip on his shoulder. "I think it'll never leave me, and I think that's a good thing."
Goff and the Rams actually upset the Seattle Seahawks on the road in the 2020 Wild Card Round, though the quarterback only got into the game after an injury to John Wolford.
A week later, the Rams were eliminated by Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay
Packers. Just a few years removed from a Super Bowl appearance, coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead decided that they needed to upgrade at quarterback over Goff.
Los Angeles traded Goff and a bevy of draft picks -- two first-round picks and a third-round pick -- to the Detroit Lions and were able to upgrade in landing Stafford. At the time, the feeling was that the Rams had to give up so much not just to acquire Stafford, but to rid themselves of a Goff contract that looked like an albatross.
The story of the trade is still being written in some senses, but to this point, both sides have to be relatively happy with how the deal has worked out. The Rams won a Super Bowl title in Stafford's first season with the team, and he's rebounded after an injury-riddled 2022 campaign.
Meanwhile, not only has Goff revived his career under Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, but Lions general manager Brad Holmes -- a former Rams employee himself -- turned the picks acquired in the deal into six players, including running back Jahmyr Gibbs, tight end Sam LaPorta and receiver Jameson Williams.
Sunday's postseason game actually isn't the first time that the two teams have met since swinging one of the most consequential trades in NFL history. Stafford and the Rams defeated the Lions 28-19 at SoFi Stadium in October of 2021.
Frankly, though, that game is irrelevant to what will happen at Ford Field Sunday, because Goff and the Lions are a drastically different team than the last time the two sides met.
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