When Matthew Stafford returns to Detroit, the Lions fans jeer him.
For the most part of his NFL career, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford heard applause from Detroit Lions supporters. Those applause dissolved into boos on Sunday night.
Before the teams’ NFC Wild Card playoff game on Sunday night, Stafford ran out of the tunnel at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, to a chorus of boos from the Lions fan base.
The greeting that Jared Goff received and that from Stafford could not have been more dissimilar. The current quarterback for the Lions heard supporters chanting his name throughout the stadium.
The trade that sent one quarterback to the Lions in 2021 for the Rams will always bind the two quarterbacks together. After more than ten postseason failures in Detroit, Stafford moved to the Rams and won a Super Bowl.
In contrast to Stafford’s twelve seasons with the team, Goff was able to provide Lions fans with a home playoff game this season. It so happened that Stafford’s first game back at Ford Field following the trade was also the team’s first home postseason match in thirty years.
In a different situation, Stafford might have received a friendlier welcome upon his return. But, even though they used to support the opposing quarterback, Lions supporters had no intention of putting him or her at ease during a postseason game.