It's the nature of the world today to pull notable and possibly inflammatory quotes from the full breadth of something someone said. In that vein, what Lions quarterback Jared Goff said about negativity from the media in Detroit should not be singled out as the only thing he said on the podcast of a former college teammate earlier this month.
As a reminder, during the week leading up to the NFC Championship Game, Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News essentially asked Goff about the 49ers having players who were better-known nationally.
Goff was asked about that exchange on the podcast, the Willbo Trading Cards podcast, and here's what he said.
"I have this like, and I need to drop it soon here because I’m gonna hopefully be in Detroit for a long time," Goff said. "But I have this thing with our local media where they almost relish in negativity at times. And maybe that’s what get clicks and that’s what sells. But it’s no longer what they need to live in. Hey guys, we have a good team, we’ve had success. We can be happy about that, we can celebrate that and not have to write about how we’re constantly the underdog....
Jared Goff circles back and says his words about Detroit media may have been 'twisted'
After a charitable event on Tuesday, Goff clarified his comments about negative media to ESPN's Eric Woodyard.
Here is my full interview with #Lions QB Jared Goff where we spoke about the #NFLDraft being held in Detroit for the 1st time, return of black unis, his extension, reaching the NFC Championship and more. LINK: https://t.co/ute7fZbcpj
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) April 23, 2024
"There's been a ton of positivity. It may have got twisted a little bit, as things do. I was speaking in reference to the question I was asked at that press conference," Goff said. "I was answering that question. I was not saying there aren't any positive news, I wouldn't really know, but they have been positive to me. I was saying that I think sometimes, some of the people, enjoy the negative news and I don't think that's necessarily specific to Detroit."
"I was speaking about our local guys, but I think that's kind of the world," he said. "Not to get really grand right now, but it wasn't necessarily specific to Detroit, it was the world media, sports media, certainly the NFL media and the roller coaster that is and what sells clicks. But, yeah, maybe I should've been a little more specific with that."
Goff was indeed answering a very specific question about that exchange with Wojnowski during NFC Championship Game week, which was not contentious. But he said "I have this thing with our local media where they almost relish in negativity at times", and that took it to a different level.
Were Goff's words twisted into something they weren't? They weren't singled out and put out there by the podcast hosts to garner attention, as some others might've done to draw attention to a podcast that wasn't widely known beforehand.
But what Goff said, in a more casual and comfortable setting than most public things he'll ever do, about Detroit media got noticed. So now he's suggesting his words got "twisted a little bit", when it's plain to see/watch/hear exactly what he said-however it might be interpreted.