(KRON) — It is never too early to start talking NFL football, especially when a Bay Area native is expected to be the face of the franchise for the for Los Angeles Rams.
Just two weeks ago, former Cal quarterback Jared Goff was the first overall pick in the NFL draft.
And KRON’s Mark Carpenter had a chance to talk with him and his family at their home.
After leaving high school early to enroll at Cal, Jared became the first true freshman starting quarterback in program history. And three seasons later, he’s on track to take over pro football in Los Angeles.
The entire world witnessed the walk across one of the NFL’s grandest stages, but just a few see the entire process it takes to get there.
In Goff’s case, success started at home.
“I’m very thankful and lucky that my parents really let me do my own thing,” Jared said.
“We really tried to stress keep everything as simple as you can. Don’t make it bigger than it needs to be and have fun,” Jared’s mother Nancy said.
It’d be easy for pressure to factor in, especially since Jared’s father Jerry had a career in Major League Baseball.
But his prime concern was seeing the best for his son.
The NFL’s next shining star wasn’t the bell of the ball coming out of high school.
“There was like no interest for a while,” Jerry said. “There was an early part of his beginning of his junior year or end of his sophomore year when he should have been getting where most kids were getting recruited, he was getting nothing, so we were like crap. We’ll just see what happens.”
Jared put together a record-breaking resume at Marin Catholic High School and eventually did the same at Berkeley, ending his college career with conference highs in passing yards and touchdowns.
But for the last few months, he’s been under the microscope–combines, workouts, draft scouting reports, nitpicking everything, even the size of his hands.
“The whole process was a real eye-opener,” Jerry said. “I had no idea the extent of the background checks.”
“You are getting evaluated for playing a sport, but at the same time, they are kind of micro-evaluating everything about you,” Jared said. “It’s for good reason. They are going to be putting a big investment into you, but at the same time, it’s not very fun for the person going through it.”
Yet, he endured. and from all those reports, one of the most common traits that stood out– unwavering poise.
“He’s mild-mannered, but he’s very competitive,” Nancy said. “And I think that served him really well. He just seems to be able to handle anything that comes his way, whether it’s a blitzing linebacker, or questions about his hands, anything. He makes it funny, he deflects. He’s just a natural at that.”