Lions defender Jared Goff stood on the podium trying not to get emotional.
Detroit got its first win of the season, thanks to a last-second touchdown pass from Goff, as the team honored the victims of the Oxford High School shooting. Wearing an Oxford hat, Goff said he hopes his team can provide light to the community after the tragedy.
“Sometimes special things happen under exceptional circumstances and I think you saw yesterday what Michigan did to Iowa. And today we got our first win in 12, 13 weeks,” Goff said. speak. “I hope they all watched today and can enjoy that win and we can put their mind off whatever it may be, three o’clock. I think any time we have able to do that, it’s so much bigger than our sport, it’s so much bigger than us, and I think today is one of those special circumstances where we can go above and beyond the opportunity and make something special.”
Jared Goff wore an Oxford hat at his post-game press conference, choking when asked about it: “Sometimes special things happen under exceptional circumstances.” pic.twitter.com/r0Vs8qspTK
– Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) December 5, 2021
THAN: Michigan honors Tate Myre, ‘hero’ of Oxford rifle shooting, in Big Ten championship win
Lions coach Dan Campbell opened his press conference by dedicating the ball in the game to the Oxford community, and all those affected.
“I want us not to forget these names: Madisyn Baldwin, Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling, Tate Myre, John Asciutto, Riley Franz, Elijah Mueller, Kylie Ossege and Aiden Watson and Molly Darnell, a teacher,” Campbell said. speak. “Those names for all of those people will never be forgotten. They are in our hearts and our prayers and all the families and not to mention all those who have been lost. influenced by all of this. , coach.”
THAN: Lions feel the impact of the Oxford shooting
On Tuesday, four students were killed and seven others injured at Oxford High School, a school about an hour north of Ford Field in Michigan.
Before the game began, the Lions honored the victims, asked for a moment of silence before kicking off, and displayed the names and pictures of the four students killed – Myre, Baldwin, St. Juliana and Shilling – on the screen. Wear Oxford hats and have decals on the back of their helmets during the game. Lion safety Jalen Elliott paid tribute to Myre, an Oxford footballer who is said to have attempted to disarm the shooter, by wearing Myre’s name on his shirt on Sunday. Myre’s shirt number for Oxford is 42, the same number as Elliott’s.
The Lions’ victory came a day after Michigan won the Big Ten championship over Iowa, winning it 42-3 on aggregate.
“We talked about this yesterday morning, I mean we were really into it, the depth of all of this, and just wanted them to know exactly what we were going to do,” Campbell said. represented today,” Campbell said. “The shirts, the hats, the decals, the people affected. And some of our players know of someone who has been affected and so I mean I think that’s it. there’s some of that and I think they all like me, I just thought, “Hey man, if we can just take three hours to ease their suffering a little bit, it’s worth it.” . It’s worth it.” So that’s how I think about this and we did a great job. The players, they responded, played well.”
