JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke has a clown figurine sitting on his desk, a playful reminder of a tough season and how much things have changed for him and his team.
On the first episode of the Jaguars-produced “The Hunt” series, Baalke said that he received a toy clown from a Jacksonville fan during the turbulent 2021 season and he’s kept it on his desk for motivation. Not long ago, fans were skewering management for sticking by Baalke. Now, he’s in charge of one of the league’s ascending teams.
“I mean it’s, some fan sent that to me,” Baalke said in the episode. “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 you know, it’s to prove them wrong.”
That was the first public admission by Baalke that he recognized the clown crusade that was directed at him and the franchise during a rough year.
At the tail end of a disastrous 2021 season, the Jaguars were mired in yet another miserable year. Urban Meyer was fired after 13 games. Interim coach Darrell Bevell was in charge of lugging Jacksonville to the finish in what appeared to be another rebuild and, for fans, preferably, a clean sweep of the organization.
That included Baalke, then in his first season as the team’s general manager. Baalke served in an interim role after the team fired Dave Caldwell during the one-win 2020 season. But all the vitriol and angst was saved for Baalke at that point in 2021.
Owner Shad Khan opted to retain Baalke and made that clear before the season was over. Fans weren’t happy with the news. A social media campaign ensued, and fans showed their frustration by starting a clown-out crusade to poke fun at Khan and Baalke. Clown noses and attire were seen at Jacksonville’s regular-season finale against the Colts on Jan. 9, 2022. The title sponsor of that game, RoofClaim.com, even sued the Jaguars because of the bad press around that clown game. That case is still in litigation.
Khan and Baalke went on to hire Doug Pederson as head coach. Baalke spent a staggering amount in free agency in 2022. The moves paid off and Jacksonville finished 9-8 and won the AFC South. It stunned the Chargers in the AFC divisional round before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
When News4JAX asked Baalke following the season if he felt any vindication following the turnaround, he said that the public criticism was part of the profession.
“I don’t look at it like that. We’re paid to do a job, and our job is to put the best product we can on the field,” Baalke said in his season-ending press conference. “I’ve never listened to the noise. The noise doesn’t determine the decisions that we’re going to make as an organization. I think the best thing you can do when there’s a lot of noise is put earplugs in and go about your job, and that’s what we tried to do.”