“Lots of great memories here”

DETOR – On this day, the roaring crowds at Ford Field are replaced by giggling little girls cheering ‘go lions’.

The stadium was usually empty, as Matthew Stafford and his family came to say goodbye. Now the former Detroit Lions defender still can’t wrap his head.

“It’s crazy. Obviously, you know, thinking it’ll probably be the last time I’ve been here at least,” he said. “I have a lot of great memories here. And a lot of hardships.”

Ford Field and Detroit are home to Matthew and his wife, Kelly Stafford, 12.

“Life as I know it now, you know, got here in Detroit, you know, married, kids. All of this, “said Matthew.

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Kelly looks back and gets a little excited.

“I think the first time I came here I was 19, and if I look at it, probably for the last time, I feel like I don’t know, I retire a lot,” she said.

Matthew said there are games he will never forget.

“I still remember playing Chargers in 2011 and making the playoffs, making the playoffs here at home for the first time in years and I will never forget the crowd,” he recalled.

“It simply came to our notice then. I mean, the one that comes to mind when you say it would be, you know, when the Packers hit Ave Maria on Thursday night after I won Thanksgiving, ”he said.

When I watched him fall and return immediately, just like the city Detroit adopted, I found out that Matthew was tough. He is resilient. We may not have always liked the result, but the man appreciated the fight.

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I asked him how difficult it was for him to leave.

“Oh, probably the hardest conversation I’ve ever had in my life, you know, you know it was, it was a very hard, very hard business. I have to give the lions a lot of credit for the way they handled it. I have all the respect in the world for the Ford family, “he said.

I asked him if this was his decision.

“It was mutual, you know, it was something I think we both talked about and I think they wanted to see where my head was, and obviously I expressed that to them and you know they understood,” he said.

Stafford’s new city is Los Angeles, and his new team is the Rams. He is still amazed at how the trade has worked.

“Honestly, you know, one of the two teams that I didn’t think they would be able to make if they wanted to be uniform.” he said. “The fact that they wanted it was huge and the fact that they succeeded, I think you have to give a lot of credit to the Rams, but also to the lions, as well as to be creative and find a way to get it done.”

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Professionally, Detroit is all Stafford knew. “The D” became home, but both people and fans cheered and, yes, sometimes booed, those who will always have a special place in his heart.

“Everywhere we go in the community, you know it’s a people who wish us well and that’s what the world means to us,” he said.

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