Jonathan Goff (born December 12, 1985) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Vanderbilt Commodores and was selected by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in the fifth round of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

. He was a member of the

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

Giants, defeating the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

, though he remained on injured reserve for the entire season.

Early life

Jonathan Goff was born to Gwendolyn Tyre and Tobie Goff in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He was raised by his mother in

Stoneham, Massachusetts Stoneham ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offers convenient access to Boston and ...

, with his older brother, Jason. Goff grew up swimming and playing soccer, tennis and basketball. Goff qualified for the Johns Hopkins Gifted and Talented student program based on SAT scores received when he was twelve years old. He began playing football in the 8th grade in the Wakefield (Massachusetts) Pop Warner League. Goff played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at St. John's Preparatory School in

Danvers, Massachusetts Danvers is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the beach ...

, an academic and all-male private high school. During his career he started at many positions including

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, and

. In football, he was a two-year captain and an All-conference selection in 2001 and 2002. He also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and was captain of the track team, where he succeeded immensely, breaking a longstanding record in the discus. His senior year, he broke St. John's long standing discus record and later that season, he broke his own discus record.

College career

Goff played college football at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

. He played in 46 games with 36 starts, recording 307

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, 15.5 tackles for losses, 6.5 sacks, three

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

, three forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

s, and one blocked kick. As a senior in 2007, he was second-team All-Southeastern Conference, team captain, led the squad for the 2nd straight year with a career-high 113 tackles (61 solo), and ranked 4th in the conference with an average of 9.42 tackles per game. He had 3 sacks, 6.5 stops for losses, 6 quarterback pressures, and he deflected 5 passes and picked off 2 others for 12 yards in returns. In 2006 Goff was a defensive captain and started every game at middle linebacker, extending career consecutive start streak to 27 games. He was named Second-team All-Southeastern Conference. Goff topped Commodores with 67 solo tackles and 93 total tackles, and ranked among team leaders with four quarterback hurries (T-1st), six tackles for loss (T-5th), 2.5 quarterback sacks (5th), and two forced fumbles (T-3rd). In 2005, he concluded the season as team's third leading tackler with 47 solo stops and 63 total tackles including tackles for loss (3), quarterback hurries (2) and a sack. He also had two defended passes. In 2004, he played in every game, starting final four outings at middle linebacker. In 2003, he redshirted. Goff graduated in December 2007 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Professional career

New York Giants

Goff was selected by the

in the fifth round of the

with the 165th overall pick. On December 13, 2009, Goff recorded his first career

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

on a pass by

Donovan McNabb Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college ...

against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. In the Giants' game against the

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the following week, Goff recorded his first career sack, against

Jason Campbell. In 2010, he became the starting middle linebacker. He tore his right

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

during practice prior to week 1, ending his 2011 season.

Washington Redskins

Goff signed with the

on April 30, 2012. He was expected to switch from the

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the li ...

position from the Giants' 4-3 defense to an inside linebacker position for the Redskins' 3-4 defense. However, on July 28, 2012, Goff tore the same ACL that he tore in the 2011 season making him miss the entire 2012 season, as well as a consecutive second season. Two days later, the Redskins waived him.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Vanderbilt Commodores bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goff, Jonathan 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Atlanta American football linebackers Vanderbilt Commodores football players New York Giants players Washington Redskins players Sportspeople from Stoneham, Massachusetts Players of American football from Middlesex County, Massachusetts St. John's Preparatory School (Massachusetts) alumni