The Whitworths gathered in their Southern California living room last Sunday, all four children and their parents, everyone marveling at how what was became what is. It wasn’t long ago that Jared Goff played quarterback for the Rams, while Andrew Whitworth protected his blindside at left tackle and everyone in their immediate families knew exactly who to root for.
Now, Goff was playing for the Lions; his replacement in Los Angeles, Matthew Stafford, was returning to Detroit and still seeking the playoff win at Ford Field that eluded him for 12 seasons with the Lions. Whitworth was retired, a broadcaster, after winning a Super Bowl with Stafford in L.A. And his children, a group that once sort of unofficially included young Goff, weren’t sure where to direct their cheers.
Of course. But they could be Goff fans, too. There are a lot more of those these days—in Detroit and California and all points in between. In some ways, Whitworth watches Goff now, the QB who guided Detroit to its first playoff win in three decades and the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, where they will host the Buccaneers on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC). That Goff—steady, classy, resilient as hell—can seem exactly the same. But other times, Whitworth studies the same player, in the same season, and sees growth upon growth, the same guy and entirely different one wearing the same No. 16 jersey and slinging darts.
I saw true appreciation for his time as an L.A. Ram,” Whitworth says by phone Wednesday. “And, also, the new person he [has] become in Detroit—and the new man he is there. You saw the whole thing come full circle for him, in, obviously a game where he wanted to prove that he could win.
The end of Goff’s tenure with the Rams can seem like it happened a million years ago. No need to belabor the unraveling, but the gist matters, because it was tense. He and coach Sean McVay, one of Whitworth’s other closest friends, weren’t exactly speaking. The Rams were turning toward John Wolford in a playoff game and away from the No. 1 pick they traded a bounty of draft capital to select in 2016.
