In the final year of his playing career, Dan Campbell was a teammate of Drew Brees in New Orleans. Later, Campbell spent five years on the Saints’ coaching staff when Brees was there. Now Campbell is head coach of the Lions, and he has a quarterback who reminds him of Brees.
Campbell told Rich Eisen that Lions quarterback Jared Goff is playing in Detroit like Brees did in New Orleans in his prime.
“I was fortunate to be around Drew Brees as a player and as a coach for a combination of six years,” Campbell said. “When you’re around that type of players it’s rare. To see the professionalism, the work that goes into it, the process, the competitiveness, and there’s things about Goff that remind me of him. He’s got a workman’s attitude, he’s blue collar in that way, a quiet confidence, he doesn’t get frazzled, he’s tough, he’s seeing it. Because of that, we’ve put a lot on him.”
Campbell said Goff’s strong recent play comes as no surprise to those who saw how he prepared for this season.
“Our guy is playing at a high level. I’m really not surprised, just because I know what he’s put into it, and he’s an accurate passer. He’s a dude, man,” Campbell said.
Now Campbell hopes Goff can do for the Lions what Brees did for the Saints, and earn the franchise its first Lombardi Trophy.
