JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars’ rise in the second half of the 2022 season to an AFC South title came as a surprise to most people.
Not for Trevor though, both Trevor Lawrence the quarterback and Trevor the ghost.
Trevor the Ghost is a character on the CBS sitcom “Ghosts,” which is based on the British series of the same name and is played by actor Asher Grodman.
Grodman is a fan of the Jaguars, who says he called the division title when the team was 4-7.
“I said after the Ravens game [on Nov. 27] we were making the playoffs and winning the division,” Grodman said.
The Jaguars lost just once in their next six regular season games, beating the Tennessee Titans in Week 18 to win the AFC South. However, there is nothing supernatural in that. Just solid football, a bit of luck, Lawrence’s development into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and head coach Doug Pederson purging the negativity and dysfunction of Urban Meyer’s tenure.
Despite having no ties to Jacksonville, Grodman is a fan of the Jaguars. He’s the latest celebrity to be added to the notable fan list of a franchise that hasn’t exactly been one of the league’s most popular over the past two decades.
Actor and comedian Billy Murray visited the Jaguars during Jack Del Rio’s tenure as head coach (2003-11) and did a piece with NFL Films. Actor Gene Hackman is in a relationship with Del Rio and was also a fan for those nine years. Actor Patrick Heusinger, who counts Gossip Girl, Royal Pains and The Black Swan among his acting credits, is a Jacksonville native, as is singer/guitarist/songwriter Derek Trucks, who with his wife Susan Tedeschi formed Tedeschi Trucks. Band. They performed the National Anthem before the Jaguars’ wild card playoff game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
NBA player Kevin Durant is not a fan of the Jaguars, but recently praised franchise and catcher Christian Kirk on his podcast. Durant said he thought the Jaguars had overpaid for Kirk ($37 million annually) in free agency, but said he was wrong after Kirk set career-highs in receptions (84), receiving yards (1,108) and TDs (eight). ).
Grodman had a different path to becoming a Jaguars fan. He was born in New York City in 1987, but his father was a Detroit Lions fan, so he naturally followed the Lions when he was younger. But he joked that his mother was worried that he and his brother would not have friends since they were surrounded by New York Giants and Jets fans, so she told them to pick a new team.
Grodman said his father was okay with it as long as they stayed away from the Giants and Jets.
“It was 1995 and when the Jaguars came out (those colors still, I think are the best colors in the league, they need to bring back some of that gold from those early uniforms), for an eight-year-old, I was like, ‘Wow, this is not looks like nothing,’” Grodman said. “It took me a year or two to experience things my dad had never seen in his life.
“At first [it] It was incredible. And then there was a crash.”
A big fall. After going 4-12 in their inaugural season in 1995, the Jaguars made the playoffs the next four years in a row, culminating in a 14-2 record in 1999. That season ended with a disappointing loss to the Titans in the AFC Championship Game. in Jacksonville.
Since then, the Jaguars have made the playoffs just four times, have had back-to-back seasons with a winning record once, and have lost 10 or more games in 10 of the past 12 seasons. However, Grodman said he never considered another trade.
“I’m an actor and I basically went through like 20 years of unemployment and I was banging my head against the wall and things didn’t work out and they didn’t work out,” he said. “And I think, on some level, I must have seen some camaraderie with the Jags.”
Now he is enjoying the newfound success of the Jaguars. Grodman has attended several games, including the Jaguars’ overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys from owner Shad Khan’s suite. He has met several former players, including Hall of Famer Tony Boselli and Fred Taylor. He was with his Lions fan dad when he met Taylor after the win over the Ravens, and Marc Grodman couldn’t help but talk to Taylor about… Barry Sanders.
Grodman said he hasn’t met Pederson or Lawrence yet, but he and his father met kick returner Jamal Agnew, which Grodman said was an added thrill for his father since Agnew spent the first four years of his career with the Lions.
Two episodes of “Ghost,” one of which aired Jan. 5, are directed by former Jaguars practice squad catcher Matthew Cherry.
“He runs the set like a training camp,” Grodman asked. “He’s awesome. It was fun to be on set with him.
“I had the Jaguars send me his jersey so I could wear it the first day on set to greet him. Then at the end, the whole cast signed it and gave it to him.”
Grodman said he hopes to attend as many games as possible next season based on his filming schedule. He’s optimistic that success in 2022 is just the beginning, and he’s excited to see what the offense will look like with the addition of wide receiver Calvin Ridley, who can request reinstatement from his indefinite gambling suspension on Feb. 15.
“If Ridley is really fit, I think they’re going to be THAT offense,” Grodman said. “He’s going to be terribly good next year. Scary.”