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Matthew Stafford said his decision to ask for a trade with the Detroit Lions, where he had spent his entire career, was “probably the most difficult conversation I have ever had in my life.”
Stafford spoke to two Detroit media outlets – WDIV and Detroit Free Press – in his first public comments since the Lions agreed to trade their franchise quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams last month for Jared Goff and three draft picks.
Stafford told the Free Press that he and his wife, Kelly, have started having conversations about the possibility of leaving Detroit before the 2020 season if there is a regime change.
“It was one of those things where, you know, we were hoping that – damn, let’s go, I hope this thing takes off and we play really well,” Stafford told The Free Press. “But if it didn’t, you just knew what was going to happen. They were going to tear it down and rebuild it.
“And every time you change your GM and head coach, you know they’re going to want to bring in their own people, and that’s going to take time. And I honestly didn’t think I was the right person. to oversee this time. “
Stafford caught up with team president Rod Wood and owner Sheila Ford Hamp just after the season to have the conversation. The Lions were open to his request and began looking for business partners after the team hired Brad Holmes as general manager and Dan Campbell as head coach.
Stafford told the Free Press he initially thought he would head to the Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers or the Washington soccer team – all obvious landing spots looking for a quarterback. In fact, he didn’t think the Rams would be a team that could pull off a big trade.
“I’m not a salary cap guru,” Stafford told The Free Press. “It kind of got to a point where I was like, ‘OK, I can’t just sit there and go crazy.’ I just tried to let it happen. And LA jumped on it aggressively. “
Stafford said he and Kelly were in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico when the trade took place. Right before the deal, he ran into Los Angeles offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth, who joked to Stafford that the Rams would “give him a run.”
Whitworth was right, and within 24 hours the deal was done.
“We were thrilled with a fresh start, thrilled that the whole process of being on the bargaining block was over,” said Stafford. “Now we had a place. We knew where we were going. I was excited about their roster and coaching staff and what they can bring to the table and their recent success.
“But at the same time, it was a closing of the door in Detroit. At that point, it was real.
Stafford leaves Detroit as the Lions franchise record holder in all major passing categories, including yards (45,109) and touchdowns (282). He said he played last season with a partially torn UCL in his right thumb, a torn UCL in his left elbow, cartilage damage on one of his ribs, a tear in the back of his left knee and a subtalar sprain of the right ankle.
Now he’s leaving for Los Angeles and a fresh start, grateful for how the Lions have handled the split.
“Sometimes it’s not the perfect storybook ending in one place,” Stafford said. “But I can leave here knowing that I gave this team everything I had.”
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