Matthew Stafford

John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was selected first overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft. Ranking in the top 12 of all-time in pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns, Stafford is currently fifth all-time in passing yards per game and is the fastest player in NFL history to have reached 40,000 career passing yards. As the Lions' primary starter from 2009 to 2020, Stafford had a breakout year in 2011 where he became only the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 5,000 yards in a single season, while also leading Detroit to their first playoff appearance since 1999. He led the Lions to two further playoff runs in 2014 and 2016, earning himself Pro Bowl honors during the former and setting an NFL season record for most comeback wins in the latter. After mutually agreeing to part ways with the Lions, Stafford was traded to the Rams in 2021 and led them to victory in Super Bowl LVI. Early years Stafford was born in Tampa, Florida to John and Margaret Stafford. He lived in Dunwoody, Georgia, while his father attended graduate school at the University of Georgia. He has one sibling, an older sister named Page. His family then moved to Dallas, Texas, and Stafford attended Highland Park High School with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw. He was coached by Randy Allen and was widely considered to be one of the best high school quarterbacks in the United States in the Class of 2006, ranked ahead of Tim Tebow. In 2005, he led his team to a perfect 15–0 record and won the UIL 4A Division I State Championship. During the playoff run, Stafford beat Ryan Mallett's Texarkana Texas 38–31, as well as Jevan Snead's Stephenville 41–38. Stafford had over 4,000 yards passing despite not playing in the first three games of the season due to a knee injury. Stafford received numerous accolades, including being named to the Parade All-America Team and the USA Today Pre-Season Super 25 in 2005. He also won the MVP and Best Arm awards at the 2005 EA Sports Elite 11 Quarterback Camp and was named the 2005 EA Sports National Player of the Year. Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Stafford was listed as the No. 1 pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2006 by Rivals.com.