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“He’s Got a Lot of Game Balls”: Aidan Hutchinson on Why Jared Goff Wasn’t Given One Despite a Perfect Passing Percentage

Suresh Menon
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“He’s Got a Lot of Game Balls”: Aidan Hutchinson on Why Jared Goff Wasn’t Given One Despite a Perfect Passing Percentage

Earlier this week, Jared Goff had one of the most efficient games in his career and NFL history, completing all 18 of his attempts. Under normal circumstances, a 100% completion rate would at least merit the game ball, but the QB was surprisingly snubbed. When asked why, his teammate Aidan Hutchinson gave a humorous response.

In his interview with Kay Adams, Aidan revealed that nobody in the team knew that Goff had such a perfect game against the Seahawks. So, he argued that this was the reason why nobody must have given Goff the game ball.

However, he did reveal that head coach Dan Campbell gave the QB a pat on the back at a meeting post-game. “He got his flowers this morning. Dan shouted him up in the meeting,” Hutchinson said.

Then, who received the special ball after the game? Aidan didn’t have a definitive answer, but he justified Goff’s snub by playfully stating that the QB has already received too many balls in his career, so he wouldn’t miss this one.

“I think he’s got a lot of game balls in his life. [So] you know, some other guys got the game balls…”

Jokes aside, having a 100 percent completion rate is not an everyday occurrence for a QB. So, the snub does feel a bit unexpected. But as Campbell later revealed, it was an honest mistake.

Even the head coach didn’t know about Goff’s perfect game

As Campbell revealed in his post-match press conference, even he had no idea about the perfect completion rate recorded by his talisman. Thus, in a state of ignorance, he unintentionally awarded the game ball to someone else.

The head coach, however, was gracious enough to admit his lack of knowledge and revealed that he felt “awful” about the mishap. After all, a perfect pass percentage is a rarity in the NFL.

“Well, I just gave the game ball to somebody else, so I feel awful right now… I knew he played a heck of a game. I did not realize he was perfect. I did not know he was literally 18 for 18… but I knew he played really well. You could feel it.”

The fact that nobody on the Lions roster recognized the brilliance of Goff’s performance highlights the greatness of the QB.

Over the years, Jared has made his teammates accustomed to flawlessness, to the point that even a 100% completion rate goes unnoticed. Thus, one could argue that Goff, in this case, is suffering from success.

Post Edited By:Samnur Reza

About the author

Suresh Menon

Suresh Menon

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Suresh Menon is an NFL writer at The SportsRush with over 700 articles to his name. Early in his childhood, Suresh grew up admiring the famed BBC of Juventus making the Italian club his favorite. His love for soccer however soon translated to American football when he came across a Super Bowl performance from his Favourite Bruno Mars. Tom Brady’s performance in the finals left an imprint on him and since then, he has been a die hard Brady fan. Thus his love for the sport combined with his flair for communication is the reason why he decided to pursue sports journalism at The SportsRush. Beyond football, in his free time, he is a podcast host and likes spending time solving the Rubik’s cube.

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