![]() But Detroit became a special place for the Staffords. Stafford grew up in Dallas and went to the University of Georgia, where he met his wife, Kelly. “I respected his request, and we did the best thing for our organization, the best thing for him.” “I mean, I think we’re in two different phases, and I think that’s what he had recognized,” the Lions’ new general manager, Brad Holmes, said at the Senior Bowl last week, referring to the Lions and Stafford. The Lions might not win many games, but they made the deal, and for more than football reasons. Stafford had two years left on his contract, and he has acknowledged that the Lions could have said, Tough luck, pal. Hamp OK’d the deal because, as she told the Detroit Free Press in October: “We want people to be here that want to be here and that want to play for us.” She understood why Stafford did not want to start over with another head coach. But the Rams offered a bounty in return: Jared Goff, their 27-year-old starting quarterback, plus, of larger importance, first-round draft choices in 20 and a third-round draft choice in 2021. He’d played every game over eight full seasons, often hurt, but missed the second half of the 2019 season with fractured bones in his back.īesides, the Lions were not going to just give him away. Stafford, selected with the No 1 overall pick in 2009, the year after the Lions finished 0-16, was no fresh talent – no guaranteed success in LA. She said she was a “huge Matthew fan.” So were the team and their long-suffering fans. Sheila Ford Hamp, the Lions’ principal owner, was not so sure she wanted to get rid of Stafford either, considering that she’d sacked the general manager and coach two months earlier.
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