Matthew Stafford

John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Lions first overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Georgia. He is the 4th quarterback in NFL history to throw over 5,000 yards in a single season.

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. His family then moved to Dallas, Texas, and Stafford attended Highland Park High School. 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.

Stafford made his varsity debut in the 2002 playoffs against Sulphur Springs High School. He lettered in baseball as a power hitting first baseman where he was teammates with future Major League Baseball pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Jordan Walden. However, after a disappointing junior football season in which he threw for only 1,748 yards, 18 TDs and 11 INTs, Stafford quit baseball to concentrate on football.

In 2005, he led his team to a perfect 15–0 record and won the Texas 4A Division I State Championship. During the playoff run, Stafford faced stiff competition from Jevan Snead and Ryan Mallett. Both gave Stafford very close games. Stafford had over 4,000 yards passing without playing 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 #1 pro-style quarterback prospect in the class of 2006 by Rivals.com.

Before he had even started a game at the collegiate level, analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. predicted that Stafford would eventually be the first pick in the NFL Draft.

College career
Matthew Stafford eventually will be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Write that down.

Freshman
Stafford graduated early from high school and enrolled at the University of Georgia in January, where he became the first true freshman Bulldog QB to start since Quincy Carter in 1998, and first out of high school to start since Eric Zeier in 1991. Stafford wore number 7 at Georgia. He completed five of 12 passes for 102 yards and one TD in a Georgia spring game.

Stafford debuted late in the season opener of the 2006 season against Western Kentucky and went 3 of 5 passing for 40 yards and a touchdown pass. During the season's third game, against South Carolina, starting quarterback Joe Tereshinski III was injured, forcing Stafford to come off the bench. Although he completed just 8 of 19 passes for 171 yards and three interceptions, Georgia won the game, 18–0. Against University of Alabama Birmingham the following week, Stafford made his first collegiate start. Georgia won, 34–0. Victories over Colorado and Mississippi improved Georgia's record to 5–0, but the heart of the conference schedule loomed.

The rest of the season was up and down for Stafford and the Bulldogs. Following home losses to both Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Coach Richt named Stafford the starter for the rest of the season ahead of Tereshinski. Stafford completed 20 of 32 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns in the 27–24 triumph over Mississippi State, and was named the SEC Freshmen of the Week for his efforts. Statistically, he had his best game of the season against the 5th-ranked Auburn Tigers. Stafford finished the game 14 of 20 for 219 yards and a touchdown, and added 83 rushing yards and a touchdown on 7 carries in Georgia's 37–15 upset win. The following week, Stafford led the Bulldogs on a 12-play, 64-yard drive and threw the game-winning touchdown pass in Georgia's 15–12 win over No. 16 Georgia Tech.

Stafford completed his freshman season by leading Georgia to a 31–24 come-from-behind victory over Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, after the Bulldogs trailed 21–3 at halftime. Stafford threw for 129 yards and a second half touchdown to spark the comeback.

Sophomore
He threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the season opener. Against Alabama, the Bulldogs avoided an 0–2 start in SEC play by escaping Bryant-Denny Stadium with an overtime win. Stafford connected with senior wide receiver Mikey Henderson on the Bulldogs' first play from scrimmage in OT for the winning score. In UGA's win vs. No. 9 Florida, he completed 11 of 18 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns, including a career-long TD pass of 84 yards to Mohamed Massaquoi and a 53 yard TD pass to Henderson. The wins over Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech marked the first time that Georgia had defeated all three rivals in the same season since 1982.

Stafford had 175 yards passing and a TD pass during Georgia's 41–10 rout of the No. 10 Hawaii Warriors in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. He completed 194 of 348 passes for 2,523 yards (194.1/game) and 19 TDs as well as two rushing TDs for the season.

Junior
Stafford was chosen to Athlon’s preseason Heisman Favorites Others To Watch list. Georgia was ranked #1 in both the preseason coaches poll and the AP poll, marking the first time Georgia has ever been #1 in the preseason version of either poll; the team also entered the 2008 season with the longest active winning streak among the 66 BCS conference teams, having won its last 7 games of the 2007 season. In the final regular season game against Georgia Tech, Stafford completed 24 out of 39 attempts for 407 yards and 5 touchdowns, setting a personal record for touchdowns in a single game. Stafford finished the season with 3,459 passing yards, the second most in school history, and 25 touchdowns, the single-season record for passing touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown in 2008. After defeating Michigan State 24–12 and winning the MVP of the 2009 Capital One Bowl, Stafford finished his three years at Georgia with a 3–0 record in bowl games and a 6–3 record in rivalry games (1–2 against Florida, 3–0 against Auburn, and 2–1 against Georgia Tech). Stafford chose to forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NFL Draft.

Awards and honors

 * Named SEC Freshman of the Week twice during the 2006 season.
 * Named Rivals.com's National Freshman of the Week for his performance against Auburn on November 11, 2006.
 * Received the University of Georgia's 2006 Offensive Newcomer of the Year Award.
 * Named to the 2006 SEC Coaches' All-Freshman Team.
 * Named Offensive MVP of the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl
 * Named All-America in 2008 by Pro Football Weekly.
 * Named to Second-team All-SEC in 2008.
 * MVP of the 2009 Capital One Bowl.

Statistics

 * Stafford's 25 touchdown passes in 2008 broke the previous Georgia record of 24, set by D. J. Shockley (2005) and Eric Zeier (1993, 1994).
 * Stafford's 3,459 yards passing in 2008 were 2nd most in Georgia history, surpassed only by Zeier's 3,525 yards in 1993.

The "Stafford Effect"
The so-called "Stafford Effect" relates to the phenomenon seen at Stafford's high school alma mater, Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas, from 2006–2008, where the number of seniors who applied to University of Georgia rose dramatically in the three years following Stafford's departure to Athens, Georgia. In 2005, the year before Stafford went to Georgia, 35 seniors applied to the university, compared with 69 in 2006, 75 in 2007, and 106 in 2008. The "Stafford Effect" was chronicled in a feature story in Stafford's hometown newspaper, Park Cities People. Stafford remarked in the story, "I'm not sure I have anything to do with it. I think people realize Georgia is a good school to watch football and have a good time, just like in Highland Park."

2009 NFL Draft
Already after the 2008 NFL Draft, several NFL analysts predicted Stafford would be the #1 pick in the 2009 Draft if he chose to leave school early. He eventually did, and on April 24, 2009, agreed to record contract terms with the Detroit Lions to become the first overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, one day before the draft was held. The six-year contract reportedly contains $41.7 million in guaranteed money (the most guaranteed to any player in NFL history until July 30, 2010, when Sam Bradford signed a deal with $50 million guaranteed) and carries a total value of up to $78 million.

2009
On September 7, 2009, Lions head coach Jim Schwartz announced that Stafford would be the Lions' permanent starting quarterback heading into the 2009 season. Regarding his decision, Schwartz stated, "This isn't an internship or an experiment." Stafford beat out veteran Daunte Culpepper for the starting job. Stafford made his first start in the NFL on September 13, 2009. He was one of four rookie starters for the Lions (Brandon Pettigrew, Louis Delmas and Sammie Hill) in the season opener against the New Orleans Saints, and was the first Lions rookie quarterback to start the season since Greg Landry in 1968. He completed 16 of 37 passes for 205 yards and 3 interceptions; he was intercepted twice by Darren Sharper, the other time by Scott Shanle. He also ran in a 1-yard touchdown.

In Week 2, he threw his first career touchdown pass when he connected with Calvin Johnson on a 6-yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings. In week 3, Stafford led the Lions to their first victory since the 2007 season. He completed 21 of 36 for 241 yards and one touchdown in Detroit's 19–14 win over the Washington Redskins. In Week 4, Stafford completed 24 of 36 for 296 yards with one touchdown as well as an interception before suffering a knee injury while being sacked in the fourth quarter of Detroit's 48–24 loss to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. He underwent further evaluation back in Detroit. Culpepper started in his place in week 5, and again in week 6.

On November 22, 2009, Stafford threw 5 touchdowns in a 38–37 win over the Cleveland Browns, becoming the youngest quarterback ever to do so, being more than a year younger than the former record holder, Dan Marino. In a thrilling ending, Stafford received high acclaim when he stepped back onto the field despite team doctors' urge to stay on the sideline after suffering a separated shoulder on the previous play and threw the final touchdown pass as time expired. In addition to the five touchdown passes, Stafford accumulated 422 yards passing, a record for a rookie at that time. For his performance, Stafford won NFC Offensive Player of the Week and Pepsi Rookie of the Week. Stafford was mic'd up for the game for NFL Films. The show's creator Steve Sabol said it was the most dramatic performance he's seen in the show's 30 year history.

Stafford was placed on injured reserve on December 24 for the minor knee injury. Stafford concluded his rookie season having passed for 2,267 yards,13 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. In all 10 of the games he started for the Lions he either threw or ran for a touchdown.

2010
Stafford injured his right shoulder in the season opener against the Chicago Bears on September 12. Stafford returned on October 31 against the Washington Redskins and threw 4 touchdowns to lead the Lions to a 37–25 win. On November 7, Stafford re-injured his right shoulder in the fourth quarter of the Lions 23–20 OT loss to the New York Jets. It was announced by the Lions that Dr. James Andrews had performed surgery on Stafford's throwing shoulder, which included an AC joint repair and a clavicle shaving, thus ending his 2010 season.

2011
The Lions opened the season on September 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with high expectations. Stafford played well, throwing for 305 yards, 3 TDs, and an interception in a 27-20 win, the first season opener the Lions had won since 2007. Another strong performance followed, with Stafford throwing for 4 TDs, 294 yards, and an interception against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2, leading the Lions to a 48-3 blowout victory, the largest win margin in team history. Stafford won the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week for his performance. In Weeks 3 and 4, Stafford led the team to consecutive comeback victories, a 26–23 overtime comeback victory over the Minnesota Vikings after trailing 20–0 at halftime in Week 3, and a 34-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys after trailing 27-3 with 12:27 left in the 3rd quarter.

Week 5 saw Stafford orchestrate a 24-13 win over the Chicago Bears, going 19 of 26 for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns. This is the first time the Lions have gone 5-0 since 1956, the year before they won their last NFL Championship. On Week 10 against the Bears, Stafford threw four interceptions, including two that were returned for touchdowns on consecutive drives. The game was marred by a brawl that began when Stafford threw Bears cornerback D.J. Moore to the ground by his helmet during a block on an interception return. In response, Moore attacked Stafford and a sideline-clearing brawl ensued. Stafford was fined $7500 for his role in the brawl.

On November 20, Stafford threw for 335 yards and 5 TDs as the Lions defeated the Carolina Panthers 49-35. Stafford became the first QB since at least 1950 to win back to back games after trailing by at least 20 points, the first to win three games in a season after trailing by at least 17 points, and the first to win four games in a season after trailing by at least 13 points according to STATS, LLC.

On January 1, 2012, Stafford became the fourth quarterback in NFL history and third in the 2011 season, along with Tom Brady and Drew Brees, to throw for 5000 passing yards in a season after collecting 520 passing yards against the Green Bay Packers in a 45-41 loss in Week 17. The accomplishment makes Stafford the second youngest quarterback in NFL history to do so behind only Dan Marino. Over the last four games of the 2011 regular season, Stafford became the only quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 1,500 yards (1,511) and 14 touchdowns over a four-game span.

Stafford was named a Pro Bowl alternate for the NFC after the 2011 NFL season. He was later named the 2011 Pro Football Weekly Comeback Player of the Year, AP Comeback Player of the Year and NFL Alumni Quarterback of the Year.

Lions franchise records

 * Most passing yards in a single season: 5,038 (2011)
 * Most passing touchdowns in a single season: 41 (2011)
 * Highest completion percentage in a single season by starting QB: 63.5 (2011) (16 starts)

Media career
Stafford has a weekly segment on Mondays on The Mitch Albom Show with Mitch Albom on Detroit radio station WJR.