Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford seemed unbothered he heard booing from Detroit Lions fans before and throughout Sunday night’s wild-card playoff game that the Lions won 24-23.
“It was a playoff game,” Stafford remarked about jeers aimed his way by members of the Detroit faithful, reported Kevin Manahan of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “I’m not surprised that they were excited about cheering for their team, and I’m not too worried about anybody’s personal feelings toward me that were sitting in the stands.”
Of course, Stafford played with the Lions from 2009 until his trade to the Rams in March 2021, when Los Angeles acquired signal-caller Jared Goff from Detroit. Stafford finished 25 of 36 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday night in the defeat. Meanwhile, Goff had his name cheered at Ford Field after connecting on 22 of 27 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown.
“He’s their quarterback,” Stafford remarked of the bond between Goff and Detroit fans. “He’s playing really well. He guided them to victory. I’m glad for him. I felt he did a great job playing today. Right now, his offensive is playing at a very high clip, and for that, they should be proud of him. They ought to be applauding him.”
Stafford, of course, has no cause to feel bad about the historic deal that took place almost three years ago. While with Detroit, he was never the winner of a playoff game; however, in February 2022, he led the Rams to victory in Super Bowl LVI. Still, it makes sense that after Sunday’s loss, many would have asked the veteran if he was pleased for his former NFL home and Lions supporters, given that Detroit had won a postseason game for the first time since January 1992.
“I’m happy for the players,” Stafford answered, according to Will Burchfield of Audacy. “Happy for those guys.”
It’s obvious that Stafford and Detroit don’t get along as well as they did in his prime with the Lions. To Detroit supporters who dreamed of Goff lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy as early as next month when they woke up on Monday morning, that probably doesn’t mean much.
