Matthew Stafford feels he let down Detroit Lions fans.
In a wide-ranging conversation with NBC Sports’ Peter King, the Los Angeles Rams quarterback was asked if “any part of you feel you let the franchise down there?”
“Definitely,” Stafford said in the Monday morning column. “I sit there and go, ‘Man, I wish I could’ve gotten it done.’ I mean, it would’ve been amazing to have a Super Bowl parade down Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Didn’t happen. Tough pill to swallow as a competitor and somebody who touches the ball on every single offensive play. You definitely look back and wish you’d done a few things different here or there in some games, that maybe change the outcomes of seasons, but I’m focused completely forward now.”
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It’s the same sentiment he shared in February with the Free Press’ Mitch Albom a week after the trade.
“I shared my disappointments in not being able to bring them what I ultimately wanted, a championship,” Stafford said then about his conversation with Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp and president Rod Wood. “It was a tough conversation, probably the hardest one I’ve ever had.”
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The Lions acquiesced to Stafford’s trade request last winter and sent him to the Rams, acquiring a 2021 third-round pick, first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 and quarterback Jared Goff. (The Lions drafted Syracuse cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu with the third-round pick.)
In Goff, the Lions will have a new Week 1 starting quarterback for the first time since 2008 when they host San Francisco on Sept. 12. Stafford spent 12 years with the Lions after they made him the No. 1 overall pick out of Georgia in 2009.
Stafford will make his Rams debut in Week 1 vs. Chicago on Sunday Night Football.
The Lions visit the Rams on Oct. 24 in Week 7.
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