you know,
spend a lot of spent a lot of years in this league and and
I've loved every minute of it.
I
you know, I feel blessed to be able to play in this league for
as long as I have
but
I sure am happy for this opportunity for not only myself
but really so many guys in that locker room that deserve this
to. So
then that's what it is. It's an opportunity, you know, to go
out there and win. Another one.
Matthew Stafford, the Rams quarterback in his first year
and Mike, the one year anniversary of The Unofficial
trade that
eventually at the beginning of the new league year in 2021,
brought Matthew Stafford to the Rams. They get to the Super
Bowl, beating the 49ers, ending a six-game losing streak, to
San Francisco
in an unofficial Road game.
At one point. It occurred to me yesterday. The 49ers should
send a fruit basket or something to Stan kroenke for
spending all that money, on the 49ers new
alternate Stadium.
They took that place over,
and it was so It was it was a legacy game for Stafford. Aaron
Donald who we saw at one point, getting his guys together on
the sideline. And basically saying, let's get out there and
take care of
business, downtown points entering the fourth quarter
and they got it done and good for Matthew Stafford. He toiled
in obscurity for far too long with the Lions and now we're
getting to enjoy what he is. He's tough.
He's a great thrower.
He takes a beating
and he just keeps get up. He's the freaking Terminator.
Yeah, you got to melt him down and you got to
At the the fluid, like two different continents in order
to keep him from reconstituting and finding a way to come back
and get you,
you know, first the 49ers mayor up 10 going to the fourth
quarter. I thought, oh my God, we what was it the 88 or 89?
Super Bowl when it was when it was Cincinnati in San
Francisco. I said we're going to be live it before. Some of
these guys were born
pretty, pretty wild, but then you're right, it would Matthew
Stafford. It's always been our who's going to show up the 41
touchdown guy or the seven. Interception guy of which
he throws him for pick sixes,
you know, against Arizona, the only through 17 passes a, he
didn't need to do a whole lot against Tampa Bay. I think he
threw it 38 times and he needed to have got great protection
from his old line and did a great job.
So, in this one, it was like, okay. Which one are you going
to get there down? 10.17 27 and he brings him back. You get two
receivers again and
Beckham and cup both over 100 yards. Just blows my mind how
they continue to do that, especially Cooper cuff, getting
open. It's just stunning to me how it happens. But yeah,
I mean Stafford's got to be like are you kidding me? I mean,
after all those years and here we go. It's two years in a row,
right? Brady leaves the Patriots. He'd get Stamper to
the Super Bowl. Stafford leaves Detroit. He gets the Rams at
a Super Bowl will see if he wins it now. But
man house. Now, Brady had a bunch of success in knowing
the biggest difference here, Stafford didn't, you know, in
Detroit from a team standpoint? So now that one year when
When how many times during the year? We are all saying. Well
if he just Jared Goff, you know in a different name, you know,
did they really get anything better for this? And here he
is, you know, quarterbacking a team into the Super Bowl
and I think back to
the first Sunday. I was ever at NBC watching games with
the crew and just kind of hanging out. Kind of monitoring the new
guy that just joined the company. A few months earlier.
It was the day
that Matthew Stafford. It had like a collarbone injury or
something against the Browns. Remember that game? He kind of
forced his way back in. Threw a touchdown pass. He was mic'd
up. And that was his rookie year
and it's like, oh, oh there you know what? The Bobby Lane,
cursed really is over the Lions, have something, this
guy's going to be special
and they never could put it together around him. And they
had guys, that can, dama can sue, they had Calvin Johnson.
They could have had Aaron Donald. Yeah, but
they A team they just couldn't do it got to the playoffs three
times
and just couldn't do it. And we never really got to appreciate
Matthew Stafford because other than Thanksgiving, when did we
ever see Matthew Stafford play? But he's got the funny arm
angles like Patrick Mahomes
and it's amazing. My he had like blood on his elbow and his
hand was all black and blue and he was
getting up like the Tin Man and and
just, you know, it's hard not to root for him. Like like Sean
McVeigh said, if you don't root for this guy, something is
wrong with View and it's a great story. And here we
have to first overall picks
one from 2009. One from 2020, get together and soup bowls
second time ever that a pair of number one overall picks meet
in the Super Bowl.
So I remember I remember interviewing Matthew Stafford
in when he was a senior Georgia before the draft. I think it
was at the Super Bowl. He was there and we got to interview
him on our show back when I was doing Mike and Mike
and just you know, do that Young quarterback going to be
a number one pick just the enthusiasm. Of man, this is
always where I wanted to play. I see so much success
in these quarterbacks and I've looked up to I Look to get him
championships and, you know, and playing championship games.
And then it goes to Detroit. You know, we're just, we know
Detroit, you know, it's kind of like, you know, unfortunately
being a Jet fan as well. You're just
end up. Not going anywhere though just to go to a couple
AFC title games, but for the most part, you're right. It's
like you see him on Thanksgiving because they're
going to play every year on Thanksgiving, but you don't see
if a ton of mm. You
just say a guy gets lost, you. No on a team like that and here
he is having to go all the way to the West Coast, you know. To
finally
do, you know, we seen him throw for big numbers. Big yards, big
touchdowns before, you know, people call him just
an accumulator because the team would never go anywhere. Now,
he helps lead a team. Oh, by the way
a team that has pushed every chip imaginable
into the middle of the table, but said
we are in it for this year
that's even added pressure
on that team and he's still able to lead him there.
An interesting storyline.
And that I assume will percolate at some point as we
search for
things and talk about, you know, how it gets with
the Super Bowl. There's no games this weekend. We'll find
something. I mean, there's the Pro Bowl, but like I said,
there's no games this weekend.
Matthew Stafford, got out of Detroit. At his request
Calvin Johnson. They didn't let him go when he wanted to move
on
Barry Sanders in 1999, when he wanted to go.
They didn't let him go
now. They had different management. Now, she'll afford
happened taken. Over the team by the time they decide to let
Matthew Stafford go and maybe they learn from past mistakes,
the bad relationship. They
have with Calvin Johnson,
the hard feelings when Barry Sanders retired and they
collected all the money from him and wouldn't let him ever
return to play for someone else but it is quite a contrast and
it's good for the Lions if they're finally realizing that
when you have a guy that good for that long who just
conscientiously decides, he'd like to finish career somewhere
else. Good for them to finally do it, but I'm sure Calvin
Johnson and Barry Sanders are wandering.
Boy. It's a shame.
And feel this way when we wanted to escape. Alcatraz
and go play for a winner.
So I think what happens a lot Mike and when I left the league in
I and would talk to younger players. The one thing I would
always tell them and it's very it's so much easier said, than
done is
remember, while this is a game. You've played all your life and
your love playing the game. It is a business.
You are now in a business
and businesses decisions are made
a team, could love you.
During the season and then you're up for contract. All of
a sudden, they find all the things they think is wrong with
you. And that could be on the other side as well. Write
a team
at the end of the day. If somebody doesn't want to play
for them. They can take it personal and say we're not
letting you go so much. So that if you don't want to play,
we're going to take your money back, instead of treating it
like a business and say, okay,
this relationship is you're going to work anymore.
What's the best thing we could do now in a business? As in?
What can we do? That's going to help the Game
and you know, that's what Detroit finally real. We're not
going to ask Stafford. So what can we get back that we think
could help us now or help us in the future if it's draft pick,
so just like the player
shouldn't take things personal though. It's very hard to do
team, shouldn't act that way either.
Personally when somebody doesn't want to play for you anymore.
If you don't think it's going to I'm not saying give
everybody what they want. But then if you know, what's not
going to happen anymore, man, you find the best deal. That's
going to work for you, the team. Mmmmm.
And that's what they did. Get into first-round, picks and
third round, pick and Jared Goff and maybe some good karma.
May be a sign that the lions are on their way to something
approaching relevance. Depending upon what they do in
the draft this year and maybe
next year. But the one thing the Bengals prove to us, you
can turn it around quickly that creates plausible. Hope for all
the other bad teams out there.