Jared Goff's first card was when?
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Jared Goff is one of the NFL's great redemption stories. A number one pick overall out of the University California, Berkeley, he took over as quarterback of the Rams a little past the halfway point of the 2016 season and lost every single game. The next two season were a completely different story though. Under new head coach Sean McVay, Goff rattled off successive Pro Bowl seasons and took the Rams to their first Super Bowl since the "Greatest Show on Turf."
Just two seasons later, however, Goff found himself shipped off to the football wasteland of Detroit in exchange for Matthew Stafford. When Stafford won a Super Bowl in his first year as a Ram while Goff's Lions won only three games, it looked like Jared Goff's career would be taking the path of so many other former number ones whose dreams of holding the Lombardi had been replaced with carrying a clipboard. There was only one snag. Jared just wasn't having it. At all.
Since his arrival in Detroit, not only has Goff emerged as a perennial MVP candidate under head coach Dan Campbell but the Lions have taken their place among the league's absolutely elite teams. The result is a supercharged "Super Bowl or bust" fan base and electric game day atmosphere the "D" hasn't seen since Barry Sanders. Jared Goff isn't just living his best life right now. He might be living the best life of anyone on the planet!
Jared's Lions "Rookie"
Naturally, any card of Jared Goff with Detroit is pretty much by definition not a rookie card. Still, Lions fans looking to commemorate his arrival in Motown can nab his 2021 Donruss card or a host of other affordable issues from that same year. Sure Jared played five seasons in Los Angeles, but Detroit is where he became a superstar.
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Jared's Rams Rookie
Collectors looking for a true Jared Goff rookie card will no doubt need to settle for a 2016 card with him on the Rams. Fortunately, there are literally hundreds to choose from, among them his very affordable Donruss Rated Rookie.
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Jared's Cal Bears Pre-Rookie
For the collector looking for pre-rookie cards from Jared's college days at Cal, there is bad news and good news. The bad news is there are no cards from his earliest days as a Bear. In fact, the first cards of college Jared didn't appear until 2016, the same year as his Rams rookie cards. Nonetheless, the Jared completist will need at least one of these cards, if not all 382 different ones.
Jared's Pre-Pre-Pre-Rookie
While it's hard to imagine any cards of Jared pre-dating his days at Cal, the truth is there is one, at least sort of. If you're thinking high school, you're heading in the right direction, but you're still a ways off. True, Jared was a stud at Marin Catholic, but the school and their star QB1 were sadly cardless during his time there. As for junior high, Little League, Pop Warner, and the like, the result is the same: zilch. Jared's earliest cardboard, it turns out, at least if you count it, came when he was only a year old!
When the card came out, Jared's father Jerry was nearing the end of his own 12-year career as an athlete, having played catcher for the Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, and several minor league squads. Among Jerry's 40 baseball cards is one in particular from a 1996 Best Tucson Toros minor league team set.
While the ultimate "young Jared" find would involve Jared sitting in one of the seats behind Jerry, Menendez Brothers/Patrick Kane style, collectors in search of Jared here will have to settle for flipping the card over.
Here in the bio section of the card, we not only learn a bit more about Jared's dad but also find Jared himself, for the first time ever, on cardboard.
Jerry began his major league career with the Montreal Expos in 1990. He also spent time with Pittsburgh (1993-94) and Houston in 1995-96. Goff played collegiately at the University of California. He and wife Nancy have two children, daughter Lauren and son Jared.Jerry Goff baseball card bio
Try to pass this off as Jared's rookie card, or even pre-rookie, and the purists out there will say "You're Lion!" Still, card collecting is a Hobby that has room not just for purists but completists as well. Besides, the card may just double as a Lauren Goff rookie card as well!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.