Matthew Stafford doesn't want anyone to win 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 outlasted the Rams 24-23 to advance to the divisional round and send Stafford home.
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Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford walks on the field during training camp at Loyola Marymount University on July 29, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Did the quarterback support the team he spent 12 seasons with as they moved forward?
“No, I'm not rooting for anybody right now,” Stafford said in a recent appearance on Barstool Sports' “Pardon My Take.” “I have a couple of teammates, a couple of former teammates that I wanted to see play well, and they did, but, at the time, I wished they could all lose.”
If the two-time Pro Bowler isn't in the playoffs, there's a good chance he won't be watching them.
“I look at it from the corner of my eye, but I'm not interested in thinking, 'It's going to be a good game next week.' I think, 'To hell with this. I want to be there.'”
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Matthew Stafford (9) of the Los Angeles Rams plays against the Detroit Lions in an NFC Wild Card playoff game at Ford Field on January 14, 2024, in Detroit. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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 past 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 whether the Super Bowl win made last season's playoff loss sting a little less, knowing he at least has a Super Bowl ring now, the Georgia product gave an answer you might not have expected.
“I think it's almost the opposite, in the sense that I know what that feels like now. I got the loss in the first round, that win is a given. I know what that feels like. I've only had one taste of the Super Bowl and I'm like, 'Man, I want to do that.'
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Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford warms up during training camp on July 27, 2024, at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. (Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“When you get those opportunities, I've had a lot of years where we didn't get a chance to play in the playoffs. When you get the opportunity, you're so close. The fact that Detroit did what they did after beating us, man, if we win that game, who knows what's going to happen? It almost makes it even tougher, 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 begin his fourth season with the Rams and will open the season in the same stadium where he finished last season in Detroit on Sunday, September 8 at 8:20 p.m. ET.
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