Long before the word “goat” became capitalized, mnemonic-ized and internet-ized into “GOAT” it meant something very different. The “goat” — or “scapegoat” — was the person to blame for a loss, the one remembered for all the wrong reasons. Think Leon Lett. Think Bill Buckner. Think, literally, “The Curse of the Billy Goat” that supposedly plagued the Cubs for decades. Jackie Smith — a Hall of Fame tight end who played for 16 years — dropped a ball in Super Bowl XIII, and guess what’s the first thing that Google suggests when you search his name?
Now we have the “GOAT” — greatest of all time, though that’s thrown around loosely. A single clutch performance can turn a good player into a legend. Think Dwight Clark, a two-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro now immortalized with a statue, thanks to “The Catch.”The examples span far …