CHICAGO – It is not often that a college football program can claim having the No. 1 player taken in the NFL Draft but after Thursday night's activities at the Auditorium Theatre in downtown Chicago, Cal can now stake that claim. And there is no doubt that Goff's selection at the top of the draft by the Los Angeles Rams will make a huge impact on the school's football fortunes.
“This is a step of paving the way for greatness for the Cal football program,” junior running back Tre Watson said after watching a draft party at the team's football facilities. “It's definitely going to open the eyes of lots of recruits that we have special things happening at Cal. It's only up from here.”
“It's rewarding to see it happen, because it shows you can do it at Cal and you can do it in this offense,” head coach Sonny Dykes said. “It shows that if you have skills and the talent that we can develop it. It worked for our program and it worked for Jared. It was a good marriage. He helped us get to where we are today and we want to build off what he did for us.”
Where Cal is today is on a serious upwards trajectory.
Even before being put on one of the biggest stages in sports Thursday night, the Cal football program has made significant progress under the direction of Dykes and the bright lights that have followed Goff ever since he rose to the top of the lists of 2016 draft prospects. The team's seven-win turnaround over the last two seasons from a 1-11 record in 2013 when both Dykes and Goff were Cal rookies to an 8-5 mark in 2015 is tied for the second best in school history behind only the eight-win improvement from a 2-10 mark in 1946 to a 10-1 record in 1948.
And Goff was a big reason why.
The native of nearby Novato came to Cal as a mid-year enrollee in January 2013 just more than a month after Dykes was hired and eventually won a three-way quarterback battle to become the first Cal signal-caller to start a season-opener as a true freshman.
Goff would go on to start all 37 games possible over the next three campaigns at Cal and set 26 school records in the process including career marks for passing yards (12,220), passing yards per game (329.7 ypg), TD passes (96), completions (977), passing attempts (1,569), total offense (12,086) and total plays (1,739). The two-time team captain was also second on the school's all-time list for passing efficiency (143.95) behind only Aaron Rodgers.
Goff established Pac-12 single-season records with 4,719 yards passing and 43 touchdown passes in his final season at Cal as a 2015 junior while becoming the first Cal quarterback to earn first-team All-Pac-12 honors since Rodgers in 2004 and leading an 8-5 Cal team to a winning record and bowl game for the first time since 2011 as well as a post-season victory for the first time since 2008.
Exciting Evening In The Windy City
Jared Goff's evening Thursday began with a walk down the red carpet outside the NFL Draft entrance with his mother, Nancy. Screaming fans on one side and plenty of cameras on the other witnessed Goff's signature smile in anticipation of his big moment.
Once inside the green room, he would not have to wait long.
When his phone rang.with the Rams on the clock general manager Les Snead was on other end of the call that would change his life and the fortunes of the Cal football program forever.
“You want to be an LA Ram?” Snead asked.
“Absolutely, I can't wait,” Goff responded.
Snead then handed the call over to head coach Jeff Fisher.
“This is the call we've been talking about,” Fisher said.
Moments later NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell walked onto the stage and got right to it proclaiming in the now famous words “with the first pick of the 2016 NFL Draft the Los Angeles Rams select Jared Goff, quarterback California.”
Words that were music to his ears and will stick in the hearts and minds of plenty of Golden Bears from both the past and the future.
