Matthew Stafford led the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl LVI victory in his first year with the franchise on Feb. 13, but the Stafford family endured an arduous 12-year journey in Detroit to get there. Nonetheless, they are grateful for the experience and the toughness it instilled in them.
Following the Rams comeback victory in the NFC Championship game over the San Francisco 49ers, Stafford’s wife Kelly Hall came onto the field and surprised Stafford by jumping on him for a long, emotional embrace. The joyous, tearful embrace ended as Stafford stated that his work was not done.
Hall explained that the embrace represented the culmination of the previous 12-year, arduous journey before Stafford came to the Rams and finally got to the Super Bowl.
Stafford was the first overall NFL pick, by the Detroit Lions from the University of Georgia in 2009, where he and Hall met. Stafford started as a rookie and would go on to break numerous records in his 12-year tenure.
He practically holds all franchise records at Detroit for the Lions, and numerous NFL records: including tying at five for the most passing touchdowns in a single game by a rookie quarterback, being the first player in NFL history to complete 60 percent or more of all passes in each game in a season, having the most consecutive 350-yard plus passing games, being the fastest to reach 20,000–45,000 career passing yards, and having the most game-winning drives in a single season with eight.
Stafford led the Lions to the playoffs three times, but failed to win any of those games. His defining moment with Detroit was one of many come-from-behind victories.
In his rookie year, he led the Lions’ comeback with 422 yards passing, to defeat the Browns on the final play touchdown completion; following a shoulder-separation suffered from a hit on the prior play.
Along the way, Stafford and Hall were married on April 4, 2015 and have four daughters; twins Sawyer and Chandler were born in March of 2017, Hunter Hope in August 2018, and Tyler Hall born in June of 2020.
In April of 2019, Hall announced that she had a brain tumor on social media and underwent a 12-hour surgery on April 21 to remove it. While Hall was recovering, Stafford missed training camp that season as he became the caregiver for his wife and children.
“When I was diagnosed with my brain tumor, that city rallied behind me at a time where I felt the loneliest ... which was pretty incredible to see and I will forever be grateful for that,” she told NFL Films.
In 2015, Stafford donated $1 million to the S.A.Y. Detroit Play Center, which allowed the center for children to remain open. In 2018, Stafford was the Lions’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.
Stafford’s career is exemplified in the Super Bowl game. The Rams lost one of their two primary receivers, Odell Beckham Jr., in the first half; and Stafford dealt with his own injury limping off with an ankle sprain. He would not miss any plays returning on the following possession after getting the ankle re-taped.
With limited resources, Stafford and the Rams offense were shut down by the Bengals and lost their first-half lead; as their primary receiver, Cooper Kupp, was double-teamed.
On the winning drive, Stafford and the Rams coaches had no choice but to target Kupp as four of the seven passes were completed to the MVP Kupp; to include the game-winning over-the-shoulder touchdown pass to the right side of the end zone for a 23–20 victory.
The defining throw by Stafford was to Kupp for 22 yards, on 2nd and 7, to reach the Bengals 24-yard line; Stafford had to make a no-look pass to thread the ball in between four Bengals in the secondary for the completion.
Stafford’s former back-up at Detroit, Dan Orlovsky, said that Stafford is “cut from a different kind of cloth, made of tougher stuff, with a bigger heart.”
Orlovsky added that he got to work with Stafford “up close. I got to know him, watched how hard he worked, how he lead by example, and played through pain without single complaint. If given the chance with the right franchise, he would flourish.”
Stafford and Hall have been very appreciative of their experience with Detroit. When Stafford finally requested a trade, the Lions franchise with much respect, cordially agreed for his pathway to the Rams.
Detroit is know as the “motor city,” with a hard-working, blue-collar type of mentality. Stafford had a long farewell announcement and video for the fans of the Detroit Lions before leaving in 2021.
“We moved there (to Detroit) and became who we are today,” said Hall. “The people there are incredible.”
