Lions Quarterback Jared Goff Has Had Quite The Transformation

The NFL was lucky enough to tackle a player like Jared Goff, but he's had a long journey to get to where he is today. From childhood to now, the football star has had quite a transformation throughout the years.

Many who hear Goff's name now recognize him as one of the most notable quarterbacks in the NFL today. But like many other players, Goff worked hard to become great, and that included shaping up the way he looked. As recently as 2020, Goff had even admitted to the Rams Wire that he had to shed some weight after constantly eating in quarantine. "I may have put on a couple of pounds," he shared. "I don't know if that's muscle or a couple of cheeseburgers, I'm not sure. But I feel good. ... I feel good putting in a lot of work this offseason." Goff did put in the work, and every day, he has become a better player.

Showcasing his skills has allowed him to receive praise from many in the sport, including his coach, Dan Campbell, per ESPN. Campbell shared in a conference, "He's got a real good grasp of what we're doing, where the issues are, where the problems are." There's no denying Goff's ability to understand the game, but he hasn't always been the superstar we know today.

Jared Goff was born and raised a football fanatic. According to Spectrum News, Goff grew up in Novato, California. That's not far from San Francisco, home of his favorite team as a kid, the 49ers. As a young boy, Goff was all about football even though his dad was a famous MLB player. In a photo posted on X by Goff, you can see the young quarterback, around the age of three to five, posing for a photo with a football in hand. At the time, you wouldn't be able to tell that this young kid would become a famous football star with how small he was. Still, he had a passion for the sport and had a football-themed outfit to match. Goff captioned the post, "My story began in Novato, Ca where I dreamed about playing football against the best in the World."

As Goff got a bit older, not only did he grow, but his passion for the sport kept flourishing. Photos posted by The Marin Independent Journal show an eight-year-old Goff playing football for what looks like a little league. Funny enough, Goff was rocking a jersey with the number 16 in honor of his favorite player, Joe Montana, who played for the 49ers. Although the future quarterback was still relatively young and small, it was clear that he had the drive to become a professional player.

When Jared Goff hit high school, he was no longer a little kid playing on the field — the would-be Detroit Lions star was starting to look like a serious football player. Photos from his time at Marin Catholic High School show a huge growth spurt, per ABC 7 News. Rocking the Marin's jersey, Goff towered over many of his teammates. Rivals revealed that in his junior year, the football star was 6 feet, 4 inches and 190 lbs. It was clear that Goff was beginning to shape up into a true football player. And it wasn't just his stature that showed this growth, but his actual stats.

According to Rivals, as a junior, Goff threw 3,220 yards, had 44 touchdowns, and four interceptions. His incredible high school career was already piquing the interest of colleges. Goff spilled the details of the schools interested in him in an interview, telling Rivals, "[Stanford] talked to me about getting admitted and they talked about my grades. They want me to come up for a summer camp so I don't really know what's going to happen."

He went on to add, "Recently, Oregon, Oregon State, and UCLA have started talking to me. The other schools that have been talking to me have just been regularly recruiting me." Despite all the schools he listed, none of them were the one he chose to attend.

From 2013 to 2015, Jared Goff attended the University of California, Berkeley, per Cal Bears. In college, Goff came in at 215 pounds and stood 6 feet, 4 inches. His transformation from his high school days to college seemed to work in his favor. He had an incredible career in college, playing in 37 games and racking up 12,200 in passing yards and 96 touchdown passes. Goff's football skills caught the eye of the NFL, and in 2016, he was recruited by the Los Angeles Rams.

Goff's football career has involved a lot of ups and downs. He played for the Rams from 2016 to 2020 and even helped lead the team to the Super Bowl. However, in 2021, Goff's life changed drastically when he was traded to the Detroit Lions after the Rams acquired Matthew Stafford. This trade still affects the football star to this day. He told ESPN in January 2024, "I think it'll never leave me, and I think that's a good thing." 

The trade has pushed him to work harder, and it seems to be working. Now, 217 pounds and still 6 feet, 4 inches, Goff is proving that he can lead a team to win. With the 2023-2024 season nearing its end, the Detroit Lions have made the playoffs and have the potential to win the entire thing.