Jared Goff has handled pressure in Bay Area since he was 7. So 49ers shouldn't faze him

Maybe we should start with the number because that’s where it all started with Jared Goff.

He grew up in the Bay Area, about an hour north San Francisco after you cross the Golden Gate Bridge. He was born in 1994, just a few months before Joe Montana played his final NFL game.

And when it came time for Jerry Goff’s 7-year-old kid to pick the first number he would wear in Pop Warner football, well, let’s us say dad gave the kid a nudge. It would be 16, the number Montana wore while leading the 49ers to four Super Bowl titles before little Jared showed up.

“It was my number growing up,” Goff said Wednesday, when I asked him to recount the story I already knew. “And yeah, I wore it because my dad said, ‘Hey, that’s Joe Montana’s number. You should pick it.’ And I’m like, ‘All right,’ and chose it and just continued to wear it.”

But I asked Goff something else about the number he will wear for the Detroit Lions in Sunday’s NFC championship game against the 49ers. I grew up in Los Angeles but I also lived in northern California and I spent a lot of time in the Bay Area. I can tell you that even now wearing No. 16 isn’t something any football player in that town wears lightly. It carries a weight, like a basketball player who wears No. 23 in Chicago.

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I asked Goff how he dealt with the pressure of wearing No. 16 in his hometown, which he wore during his formative playing days in youth football, in high school and while going to college in the Bay Area. And he hasn’t stopped wearing No. 16 in the NFL or even as Dreaj Foge, a junior college transfer Goff pretended to be for a sponsored prank.

“I’ve played there a ton of times wearing that number,” he said, “and didn’t seem to matter.”

There are only two ways to look at Goff’s answer. He truly has never experienced a single moment of extra pressure from wearing Montana’s number, or he’s in complete denial and has achieved some sort of Zen-like higher consciousness that transcends outside pressure and criticism.

Judging by Goff’s uncharacteristically loose demeanor Wednesday, when he faced a packed media room bursting at the seams with about 60 reporters, the answer could very well be the latter. Goff is making his return to the NFC title game for the first time since he won it with the Rams in 2018, and yet he displayed the practiced confident calm of a quarterback who’s been here many times.

“He’s as steady as it gets,” center Frank Ragnow said. “Highs, lows, fourth quarter, 2-minute (drill), we’re 3-13 — same guy. Just consistent, unfazed and willing to go to work every day and I just can’t say enough about him.”

Goff has an edgy side and an acerbic wit that he rarely shows publicly, but did flash Wednesday when he thanked a reporter for a compliment and then playfully retracted it when he didn’t like where the question was heading.

But that edge is rarely seen for good reason. It speaks to a volatility Goff knows can be detrimental. Whether it’s a question he doesn’t like or referee Brad Allen blowing a call in Dallas, Goff knows consistent calm serves him best.

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“Yeah, it does come quite naturally,” he said, “but I do think there is a part of me that’s intentional about being consistent whether things are good or bad. And making sure guys know that I’m not worried about it, so you guys — it’s all handled, it’s all under control.

“And that’s not easy. I think at times you are worried about things, you are trying to make sure things are the right way and being able to give off that everything is handled is important, I think, and something that I’ve always tried to do.”

I used to worry about Goff’s mental fortitude when he first joined the Lions after being mistreated and eventually cast off by Rams coach Sean McVay. I continued to worry when midway through that first season, in 2021, things weren't working with offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, who had to be relieved of his play-calling duties.

Was Goff the right guy to handle all the pressure of a rebuild? The answer he provided has been an emphatic yes. He has won big in Detroit, on the road, and against good teams. He has outdueled Matthew Stafford and handled the pressure better and more gracefully when he returned to face his former team.

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This week is going to be a lot for Goff. As coach Dan Campbell noted, looking out at the packed media room, the true opponent this week is all the extraordinary attention an NFC title game carries.

“It’s all the extra attention outside of the norm,” Campbell said. “That’s the issue. It’s not opponent. It has its own issues that we’ll deal with, but it’s all the outside attention and where they’re getting pulled from every area. You’ve got friends, you’ve got family reaching out.”

But Campbell isn’t worried for a second about Goff, who will make his Levi’s Stadium playoff debut but won his first two games there as a pro.

“He’s going to be great,” Campbells said. “I really — I feel great about Goff. He’s the least of my concerns. He’s going to be just fine. For him, he’s done this before. He understands it. We’re back on the road and it’ll be a loud environment.

“But I mean, we’ve — man, we’ve been in some big games on the road over the last year and a half. And he’s performed well.”

Even if Goff has achieved a higher level of consciousness, he’s still grounded enough to understand and accept the extra pressures this week and this game will bring, especially for him going back home.

“Yeah, it’s part of it,” he said. “This week will be a little bit more attention than last week. And of course, there’s four teams left, and these are the times you dream of as a kid and you grow up, hoping to be in these final games.

“And we’re one win away from our ultimate goal of getting to the Super Bowl and winning that game as well. But yeah, we’re where our feet are today and being very present, and know this will be a challenge for us this week and doing our best.”

Five years ago, Goff almost the Super Bowl with the Rams. Now No. 16 is as close as he’s been since then to winning Lombardi Trophy No. 1.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Jared Goff, 'steady as it gets' ready to handle pressure