Jaguars GM uses gift fan trolled him with as motivation

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke during Friday afternoon's press conference at TIAA Bank Field. After his arrival in Jacksonville, Florida Friday morning, April 30, 2021, Jacksonville Jaguars first-round draft pick Trevor Lawrence along with team owner Shad Khan, head coach Urban Meyer and the Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke held a press conference in the afternoon inside TIAA Bank Field. They were also joined by the Jaguars 25th pick in the first round of the draft and former Clemson teammate of Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]

Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke has not always been popular among the team’s fans, and he likes to keep one specific reminder of that in his office.

In the opening scene of the latest season of the Jaguars’ documentary series “The Hunt,” a small blow-up clown is shown sitting on Baalke’s desk. The GM explained the significance.

“Some fan sent that to me,” Baalke said, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “It was a little clown figurine, and I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to put it there to remind myself every day why I come to work,’ what my purpose is, I guess. It’s to prove them wrong.”

It seems like just yesterday that Jaguars fans wore clown costumes to a home game to express their displeasure with Baalke. That was after the Urban Meyer disaster and reports that Baalke’s presence was hurting Jacksonville’s chances of find a suitable replacement.

Baalke then hired Doug Pederson. The Jaguars were a completely different team last season and won the AFC South with a 9-8 record. The clown costumes disappeared, but Baalke’s clown figurine did not.