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Many veteran quarterbacks left the league recently, but Matthew Stafford remains one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. The Los Angeles Rams superstar is one of the biggest reasons they made the playoffs in 2023 and are considered strong candidates to make it to the wild card this year as well.
His history in the league is already notable, but to make it to the Hall of Fame is a totally different discussion. Still, it looks like the veteran has already cleared that bar, even if he retires today.
Is Rams QB Matthew Stafford a Hall of Famer?
There should be no doubt about where Stafford belongs, and that's among the greats in Canton. He has played at a high level for a long time, won a ring and has enough history in the NFL to be immortalized.
As for his record in Detroit, he was a good-to-great quarterback with the Lions, but the team around him was usually a problem. When he moved to Los Angeles, he found extreme success on the field.
Why Rams QB Matthew Stafford deserves future Hall of Fame candidacy
Stafford's work with the Rams immortalized him. His work with the Lions, though, built him from scratch.
Playing in the Detroit market and for a franchise that many call "cursed," Stafford's excellence has always been a supporting role in the "loser" narrative that was more seductive. But Stafford persevered.
During his years there, the Lions reached the postseason three times, in 2011, 2014 and 2016. All in the wild card round, all on the road. They didn't win a single game. Between 2018 and 2020, the Lions entered a spiral that was far from the threatening team of previous years, losing any harmony in the locker room and entering a rebuilding process.
In this process, the quarterback said goodbye to them after 12 seasons and found a perfect fit in Los Angeles. Under Sean McVay, both the head coach and the quarterback found what they always needed. McVay expanded Stafford's range of options with a visible upgrade compared to Jared Goff, while the signal caller found a team full of talent in all phases.
The 2021 season, as we know, saw history being made, and Matthew Stafford took off at the most important moment — as has been his way since the Detroit years.
