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San Francisco 49ers
There will be two No. 16 jerseys in Levi's Stadium on Sunday: one on display in the retired numbers and another behind center for the visiting Lions.
Jared Goff, the quarterback who resurrected his career in Detroit, has worn the 16 from Pop Warner through high school, college and the NFL. It's the only jersey he has worn, an homage to his favorite player growing up, Joe Montana.
The Novato native who starred at Marin Catholic stands between his hometown team and the Super Bowl. Goff helped deliver the Lions' first NFC North title since 1993 and will get a chance to lead the franchise to its first Super Bowl in front of scores of friends and family in Santa Clara.
"It'll be fun to be able to play a big game there, but I've played there quite a few times and we'll have some friends and family there," Goff told reporters this week. "It'll be cool."
No one who knows Goff is surprised that he'd downplay any emotions he might feel Sunday. Like his number-sake, he's known to be cool, calm and collected.
"A lot more on the line," said Mazi Moayed, Goff's head coach at Marin Catholic. "A little bit more pressure. I think that's one of his strengths, is just how he processes big moments or big games. He's got that Joe Cool-ness about him. He's a pretty poised young man. I think he's excited about coming back and playing."
It has been that way since high school and through college at Cal, where Goff became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
And yes, Goff has played at Levi's before. In his eight-year NFL career, he has played the Niners in Santa Clara four times, going 2-2 while throwing nine touchdowns to two interceptions. But none of those games came in the postseason, and none with stakes quite like this.
"It's sort of like a homecoming game for him," Moayed said. "Against the Niners, in the Bay Area, whole nine yards. He'll have a Jared Goff Caravan out there, family and friends, which will be really cool. So I think for a lot of reasons, he's probably more excited than he is nervous. It's going to be a great atmosphere and a great opportunity for him."
Marin Catholic quarterback (16) Jared Goff scrambles away from the defensive pressure of Eureka's (27) Baba Lee. Eureka played Marin Catholic in the North Coast Section Division III football quarterfinals at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield, Calif. On Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. (Special to the IJ/Douglas Zimmerman) Moayed, who will be a part of that "caravan," also joined Goff at the draft eight years ago. He was backstage with Goff and his family when the Rams drafted the pocket passer, trading up from No. 15 all the way up to the top pick. That year, the 49ers selected seventh, having gone 2-14 in Colin Kaepernick's last year in the NFL. They needed a new quarterback, but instead of drafting one, they waited until October to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo.
Goff took a windy road from that night to Sunday's NFC Championship. Goff thrived in Sean McVay's offense, leading the Rams to the 2018 Super Bowl, but then plateaued so much that the Rams cut ties with him, seeking an upgrade. They immediately won the Super Bowl after trading Goff for Matthew Stafford. Despite a brutal three-win first season in Detroit, the Lions showed Goff support; he has since bounced back with two excellent years. Since the start of the 2022 season, only Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen have thrown more touchdowns than Goff (59).
Like Moayed, Goff's longtime friend Alex Poksay will be supporting him on Sunday. He also joined Goff's traveling party for Detroit's last two playoff games — victories at Ford Field over Goff's former team, the Rams, and the Buccaneers.
At the same time Goff was going to Candlestick Park to watch the Niners as a fan, he was playing youth football alongside Poksay. Poksay, who's now a Marin Catholic assistant coach, said Goff has remained connected to his high school program. When quarterback Charlie Seymore suffered a second ACL tear, Goff lent his support.
"His family's from Michigan, they're big Lions and University of Michigan fans," Poksay said of Seymore. "Jared and (Lions defensive end) Aidan Hutchinson actually sent a video to the kid who'd just tore his ACL. He had a tough go, just reminding him to keep his head up, 'We're thinking about you and hope your recovery goes well.' That's such an unbelievable thing for a high school kid to hear after he just earned a scholarship and that kind of went away after his second ACL injury this year."
Goff's presence in the North Bay, a 49er stronghold, has split allegiances. Malek Banoun, who played with Goff at Marin Catholic and now works as the Wildcats' strength and conditioning coach, said the "energy" around the high school and town is palpable.
"I feel like a lot of people are torn on who to root for," Banoun said. "Deep down, I think we're all rooting for Jared. The energy's high, I think we're going to have a good day (Sunday). I think it's like our Super Bowl. We're just really excited for him and proud for him."
Marin Catholic quarterback Jared Goff looks over his shoulder before throwing a pass during practice at Marin Catholic in Kentfield, Calif. On Wednesday, December 1, 2010. (IJ photo/Alan Dep) New Jersey Deploys Cops To Send Dumped Migrants To NYC In Desperate Move: 'F–k This'
Migrants in Jersey? Fuhgettaboutit.
New Jersey officials are making sure the Big Apple doesn't dump the out-of-control migrant mess on the Garden State — and are even deploying cops to usher asylum seekers from the US border onto Manhattan-bound NJ Transit trains as soon as they get off their buses.
The scrap across the Hudson comes as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tries to rally the state's mayors to form a unified front, while New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleads with Murphy to take on at least part of the migrant burden that is burying the five boroughs.
"New Jersey just said, 'F–k this,'" one source close to the situation told The Post on Wednesday. "New Jersey Transit cops were waiting for them in Secaucus to show them how to get on the train to New York."
Multiple Garden State sources described the scene as hectic over the last few days, as nearly two dozen migrant buses rolled into train stations with "chaperones" — with NJ Transit cops then taking over and serving as guides to get nearly 1,000 asylum seekers across the river.
Multiple Garden State sources described the scene as hectic over the last few days. Stephen YangThe process has been successful so far, with no migrants choosing to stay in Jersey.
Since Saturday, 23 buses have dropped off 1,017 asylum seekers in New Jersey — with 953 then boarding trains into Manhattan and the rest going elsewhere, according to data reviewed by The Post.
The new wrinkle in the old crisis stems from Adams' move last week to issue an executive order limiting the influx of migrant buses from the border, most of them from Texas.
Adams demanded 32 hours' notice before the buses arrive in Manhattan, and they may only do so at one spot on West 41st Street — and only between 8:30 a.M. And noon.
Since Saturday, 23 buses have dropped off 1,017 asylum seekers in New Jersey — with 953 boarding trains into Manhattan and the rest going elsewhere. Stephen YangBut charter bus companies did an end-around, dropping hundreds of migrants off in unsuspecting New Jersey stations in Secaucus, Fanwood, Edison and Trenton, where they are guided onto Manhattan-bound transit trains that are not covered under Adams' order.
The Jersey towns were blindsided by the unexpected arrivals over the holiday weekend — prompting a swift rebuke from local pols like Edison Mayor Sam Joshi, who threatened to bus them back to Texas.
New York City Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy repeatedly insisted the Adams administration had reached out to "every town" on a transit line to avoid catching the suburbs off guard.
That was news to Jersey, where local government officials said they had no advance notice.
New Jersey cops have been deployed to help direct migrants to New York. Matthew McDermottCity Hall eventually conceded that "there was — of course — no way of knowing where Gov. [Greg] Abbott would choose to send migrants before the order was issued," spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said. "Which is why our outreach continues to additional localities."
Adams has also urged other nearby municipalities with easy access to the Big Apple to join his fight to issue orders limiting the arrival times — but his pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
Staffers said he was scheduled to meet with Murphy on the phone this week, but neither side will confirm that the chat ever happened.
At a press conference Wednesday, Murphy told reporters that his state would continue to push migrants to Manhattan because "NYC is where there is federal support and resources available.
The Secaucus Junction Bus Plaza in New Jersey where migrant filled buses have been arriving. Matthew McDermott"This is a manageable situation and I expect it will continue to be so," he added.
Murphy's comments about federal aid might come as a shock to the Empire State, where Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul have spent months pleading with the White House to help manage the crisis.
However, local officials in New Jersey said they are ill equipped to take on the migrants.
"It doesn't make any sense," Secaucus Town Administrator Gary Jeffas told The Post.
"For us here, any bus traveling into the train station, how do we know when they will be here so we could even have people there to turn them away," Jeffas said. "It would have to be a design beyond Secaucus."
A bus ticket routing to Chinatown in New York City. Matthew McDermottAdams reportedly sought to press Murphy to issue an executive order similar to the one he pushed through in the Big Apple — but the idea never even came up in a conference call between New Jersey state and local officials on Wednesday, sources said.
"It's just so different [in New Jersey] with buses coming in and dropping off at area train stations," Jeffas said. "For us here, any bus traveling into the train station would have to be stopped?
"How do we know when they will be here so we could even have people there to turn them away? We don't have 24/7 centers," he added.
Even if they wanted to, Jeffas pointed out, they don't have jurisdiction — which belongs to Murphy and lawmakers in Trenton.
Local officials in New Jersey said they are ill equipped to take on the migrants. Stephen YangAbout 162,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022, completely overwhelming city shelters and finances, with the crisis forcing City Hall into unsavory cuts in services.
Many of them are coming from Texas, where Abbott continues to ship the migrants crossing into the Lone Star State to sanctuary cities like New York and Chicago.
Earlier this week, Abbott boasted online that he had sent 95,000 asylum seekers north — including 33,600 to New York since August 2022 — and would continue to do so.
"Sanctuary cities like NYC & Chicago have seen only a FRACTION of what overwhelmed Texas border towns face daily," he wrote on X. "We will continue our transportation mission until [President] Biden reverses course on his open border policies."
Additional reporting by Steven Vago
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