Yasiel Puig buries the hatchet with new Rams QB Jared Goff
A big part of being an elite athlete is dealing with intense scrutiny from opposing fans and critics. That’s only magnified in the era of social media. If a professional athlete does something to make you angry, or performs well against your favorite team, you can fire off an angry tweet about it without any consequences.
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That is, unless you’re a future No.1 overall NFL draft pick. New Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff found that out the hard way in April. Shortly after he was selected by the Rams, one of his old tweets criticizing Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig made its way back into circulation.
Ordinarily, the tweet wouldn’t have made such an impact, but the fact that Goff was now set to play in the same city as Puig made it slightly more regrettable. Though the two were going to play different sports, it was pretty likely they would eventually cross paths, and that could be awkward.
Puig got out in front of that, though, inviting Goff to a Dodgers game in order to bury the hatchet.
He delivered on that promise Monday. Goff and a few of his new teammates took in a Dodgers game, and Puig was there to happily greet them.
Not only that, but Puig handed out a shirt reading “#PuigMyFriend” to Goff prior to the quarterback throwing out the first pitch.
Despite the fact that Puig is currently on the disabled list with a hamstring injury, he made sure to catch that pitch.
Prior to the start of the game, Goff told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com that the two had actually buried the hatchet months ago.
“We made up a long time ago and it was good to talk to him, he’s a really cool guy,” said Goff. “It’s funny, it was something I tweeted when I was 17 years old and it came out now. He thought it was funny.”
Monday’s first pitch may have literally been ceremony as far as their relationship is concerned, but it was the first time the two got to show there was no bad blood publicly.
That’s a good thing. Given Goff and Puig’s exceptional promise, there’s a good chance the two spend a number of years in the same city.
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Later this month, they’ll be joined by another superstar. The Los Angeles Lakers hold the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft. When someone digs up a tweet from that draft pick criticizing Clayton Kershaw, it will mark the first time in his career Kershaw will be encouraged to follow Puig’s example.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
