Matthew Stafford doesn’t want anybody to win in the NFL playoffs once his team has been eliminated. Not even his former team.
In March 2021, the Detroit Lions traded their franchise quarterback to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff, a 2021 third-round pick, and the Rams’ 2022 and 2023 first-round picks.
The two teams met in the playoffs in Detroit last season in the NFC wild-card round, where the Lions edged the Rams 24-23 to move onto the divisional round and send Stafford home.
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Did the quarterback root for the team he spent 12 seasons with as they advanced?
“No, I’m not rooting for anybody at that point.” Stafford said in a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take.” “I have a couple of teammates, a couple of ex-teammates that I wanted to see play well, and they did, but, at that point, I wished everybody could lose.”
If the two-time Pro Bowler isn’t in the playoffs, there is a good chance he isn’t watching them.
“I’ll peek (at) it, but I’m not invested being like, ‘Oh that’ll be a good matchup next week.’ I’m like, ‘F this. I want to be out there.’”
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Stafford has been to the playoffs five times in his career, three times with the Lions and twice with the Rams. He never made it out of the first round with the Lions, losing in the wild-card round each time.
In 2021, his first year with Los Angeles, he led them to the Super Bowl, a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
As for if the Super Bowl victory made last season’s playoff defeat sting a little less, knowing that he at least already has a Super Bowl ring, the Georgia product gave an answer you might not expect.
“I think it’s almost the opposite in the fact that I know what that feels like now. I’ve got the losing in the first round, I’ve got that one locked up. I know what that one feels like. I’ve only gotten one taste of the Super Bowl, and I’m like, ‘Man I want to do that.’
“When you get those opportunities — I’ve had so many years where we didn’t have that opportunity at all to play in the playoffs. When you get the opportunity, you’re really close. The fact that Detroit did what they did after they beat us, man, if we win that game, who knows what happens? It makes it almost even harder to be honest.”
The Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round, 31-23, before falling to the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31, in the NFC championship game.
Stafford will be entering his fourth season with the Rams and will open the season at the same stadium where last season ended, in Detroit, on Sunday Night Football Sept. 8, at 8:20 p.m. ET.
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