Shabbat Sermon: Not Giving Up On with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life

On a Tuesday in late October, 2022, Jared Goff, a quarterback for the Detroit Lions, was summoned to a meeting in the office of his coach Dan Campbell. The summons gave Jared Goff a pit in his stomach. He figured he was going to be benched or released—fired. Some version of bad news felt inevitable. Goff had begun his career with the Los Angeles Rams, who had traded him to the Detroit Lions for the Lions’ former quarterback, Matthew Stafford. In his first year, Stafford led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory. But Goff’s first year for the Lions was a disaster. The team went 3-13-1. His second season started out just as bad: one win, six losses, including an ugly loss that Sunday in which Goff played terribly. Hence the summons to the coach’s office.

When he got to the coach’s office, to Goff’s surprise, Coach Campbell did not have bad news. He had a good question. Jared, you are a much better player than the way you have been playing. What do you think is going on? What do you think you might do differently to play better? What tweak might we think about? To which Jared Goff responded: I’ve been trying to do too much. I need to let go of all my anxiety and just do my best one play at a time. To which Campbell responded: Jared, that’s all I’ve wanted you to do this whole time.

The next game, Jared Goff played dramatically better. The team still lost, but his play improved appreciably. And the game after that, the Lions won, and they have been winning ever since. This year the Lions are tied for the best record in the league. Goff’s play has been spectacular.

I bring up this story not to talk about football but to talk about how to respond to people who are seriously struggling. Jared Goff assumed that he was going to be benched or released. But Dan Campbell did not give up on him. How do we not give up on people or places that we love that are going through a hard time?