Under the headline “Rams QB Jared Goff is really funny … if you’re paying attention” ESPN’s Los Angeles Rams beat writer Lindsey Thiry examines how the “tall, blonde, super-cool California kid” under center is actually a secret font of dry humor and witty zingers. Thiry spoke to Goff’s coach, parents, and teammates, all of whom agreed that Goff was in fact funny even though they could not either explain why or give even one example of a funny thing that he has ever said. From ESPN’s report:
There’s sometimes a smirk or raised eyebrow. And it’s often coupled with a sly, dry barb launched at a reporter or aimed at a teammate.
Take Week 14, when a reporter asked, innocuously enough, how would the Rams quarterback prepare to play a defense that had intercepted a league-high 21 passes?
“Try to throw it to our guys,” Goff deadpanned.
The response drew a chuckle from the small media contingent, and that smirk appeared on Goff’s face. It was another unexpected zinger from Goff, who is routinely dull in his delivery but chooses his spots wisely.
That’s not a zinger, at least as the idea of zingers is generally understood. Thiry is also already leaning pretty heavily on the observation that Goff smirks a lot, but he did make something resembling a joke so I’m on board. So what other funny things does he say?
“He’s really good at poking the bear,” Rams receiver Cooper Kupp said. “If he can find something that kind of can get you, he’ll sit there as innocently as possible and just little pokes here and there, just to see how much of a rise he can get out of you.”
Nodding along, seems funny, can you give an example? No? Cool, then let’s hear more about his sense of humor.
Goff’s humor is dry and nonchalant. He’ll deliver a one-liner, then continue like it never happened.
Advertisement
But what does he say in those one-liners?
In a Week 4 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, Goff passed for 465 yards and five touchdowns, and posted a perfect pass rating of 158.3 to become only the third quarterback in the Super Bowl era with at least 30 attempts to do so.
The congratulatory messages flooded his phone. “I got a bunch of texts,” Goff said. “People saying good game and whatnot.”
Then he deadpanned: “They tend to do that when you play well. Not so much when you don’t.”
Advertisement
The deadpanning again. Not sure that one’s funny, but maybe it was a delivery thing. What about his parents? Moms and dads always think their kids are hilarious, this will be good!
“It’s dry and it’s sneaky,” Jerry said, while being sure to note that it is, indeed, in good taste and respectful. “I have recognized that a little bit and enjoy it—I enjoy his humor. He’ll do it at home, too, from time to time.”
This kind of sounds like Jerry had never really thought about the possibility that his son might be funny until a reporter came asking about it. What about Goff’s teammates?
Rams teammates say he often tries to stir things up with his jokes, but when they try to describe Goff’s unassuming personality, they say, “He’s just Jared.”
Advertisement
Okay… but, what jokes?
“He’s gotten me a lot,” McVay said. “There’s always little things here and there. I’m sure there’s a lot of good one-liners when I’m not around, too.”
Gotten you a lot how?? “I’m sure he’s funny when I’m not there” isn’t very compelling testimony, either.
“He’s just silly,” Gurley said. “He’s a funny dude. … He says little jokes.”
I’m not convinced!
When asked where his sense of humor originated, Goff raised his eyebrows. “What sense of humor?” he said.
Advertisement
Yeah, Jared, same question.
To try and answer it, I looked at Goff’s Instagram, a platform where many pro athletes let their personalities shine. Maybe, thought I, a man this many people have said is funny will let a bit of his humor peek through on the app. Instead, I found branded post and branded post after branded post, a Mother’s Day post for his mom (sweet), and another branded post in which he’s clearly supposed to be funny, but…
Advertisement
Oh, and also this dog trying to eat bacon off its face.
Okay, that’s pretty funny.
Source: Read Full Article