Jared Goff made an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show” on Monday, and he had a new Dan Campbell story that is not at all surprising.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell got some notoriety for talking about biting kneecaps during his introductory press conference at little over two years ago. As it turns out, that was just the first glimpse at his personality and a coach who would ultimately get players to buy in.
There surely already are and will be some interesting behind the scenes stories we’ll never know about Campbell’s tenure with the Lions, however long it goes. Quarterback Jared Goff was on “The Rich Eisen Show” Monday, and he had a new story about Campbell.
Campbell was apparently delivering a team speech during that first training camp in 2021, and….well, here’s what Goff recalled.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff told new, quintessential Dan Campbell story
"He must have a fake tooth and his tooth fell out and he just picked it up off the floor, put it back in and just kept talking like nothing happened,” Goff said Monday on the Rich Eisen Show. “Maybe that’s why I forgot about it, because it seemed somewhat normal at the time.”"
Goff said he was reminded of the story last weekend at the Pro Bowl by wide receiver Amon-Ra St Brown. When he was asked if anyone reacted in the moment, Goff said, “It may have been a serious meeting … so I think we just kind of let it go and moved on.”
That Campbell has a fake tooth, or even possibly multiple fake teeth, is not at all surprising. He probably lost them, or even only that one, on the field over the course of his playing career and just keep it moving like a hockey player would. That he just put this fake tooth back in after it fell out, and kept talking as if nothing had happened (and as if no one had noticed) is even less surprising.
Campbell wants his players to personify grit, and during his first training camp he did it a little bit in his role.