It was one of the most consequential trades in the history of both the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams when quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff were swapped for one another, along with a 3rd round pick (2021) and two 1st round picks (2022 & 2023).
Stafford, who had been Detroit’s franchise quarterback, would lead the Rams to the Super Bowl in his first season in Los Angeles. While Goff hasn’t enjoyed that level of success in Detroit, he managed to revitalize his career and cash in on a major extension.
However, not everyone is a fan of what Stafford has accomplished during his NFL career in both Detroit and Los Angeles, and one notable example is former Detroit Lions writer Rob Parker.
Parker, who covered Stafford’s years in Detroit, believes that the majority of the stats he accumulated shouldn’t go toward consideration in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I actually covered him and watched his entire career,” Parker said before the Rams were eliminated by the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday. “To try and rewrite what he’s done; first of all, Matthew Stafford had opportunities in Detroit and never panned out. He played with a Hall of Fame wide receiver, played with Ndamukong Suh, and some other players and they had a top-five defense one year and lost to Dallas.”
Parker then went on to invoke Stafford’s notorious nickname and argue that his stat lines were filled mostly after the games he played in were already essentially decided.
“Most other stats that Matthew Stafford has in his career were after the Lions were down 14, 21-0,” he said. “A lot of padded (stats). There’s no way you can put a guy in the Hall of Fame whose nickname is “Stat Padford”…it stuck.”
“How in the world could Stat Padford be a Hall of Famer? It doesn’t make sense!” Parker continued. “You don’t get that nickname by accident! Everybody knows! Here’s the other part – he comes to the Rams, who already went to the Super Bowl without him. They had a team in place.
Number two, look at the stat of the receivers and the wearpons that he has even this year with Davante Adams and Puca (Nacua), all the waerpons that they have. This team is loaded. They were the number one seed. What did he do this year? Choke it down.”
Rob Parker Believes Former Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford’s Career Has Been Mostly “Meaningless”
Parker concluded by saying that the majority of Stafford’s career was spent playing in meaningless games.
“You’re not gonna rewrite history to make it like this guy, everything he played – he mostly played in meaningless games,” he said. “Ninety percent of his career was in meaningless games.”
Matthew Stafford Nearly Led The Rams To Another Appearance In The Super Bowl
Stafford, who spent several years playing with the Detroit Lions after they selected him with the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, nearly led the Rams to what would have been their second Super Bowl appearance with him as starting quarterback since 2022.
He enjoyed a tremendous regular season, throwing for an impressive 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns in 17 games.
Be the first to comment