Does Matthew Stafford Belong on Ring of Honor List?
The Detroit Lions are embarking on their first NFL season in over a decade with a new signal-caller under center.
Matthew Stafford, arguably one of the organization's best to ever play the position, is now a member of the Los Angeles Rams.
"On the stat sheet, Stafford lit up under different coaching regimes in Detroit, despite a 74-90-1 career record and an 0-3 record in the playoffs. He has 45,109 passing yards, 282 touchdowns, 144 interceptions and a 62.6% completion percentage," per 247Sports.
At some point, could the organization bring him back to place him in its ring of honor?
Eighteen former members of the roster have been placed in the team's ring of honor, which was created in 2009: Lem Barney, Jack Christiansen, Dutch Clark, Herman Moore, Roger Brown, Alex Karras, Lou Creekmur, Jason Hanson, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Yale Lary, Bobby Layne, Dick LeBeau, Barry Sanders, Charlie Sanders, Joe Schmidt, Dick Stanfel, Doak Walker and Alex Wojciechowicz.
In 12 seasons under center, Stafford only took his team to three playoff appearances and never won a playoff game.
The debate that will be waged on for the next several years is how much accountability for Detroit's ills falls on the shoulders of Stafford.
There was also a myriad of other reasons for why the organization failed during his tenure -- including a lack of a running game, poor coaching, poor draft strategies and a toxic culture of losing.
It would not be terribly surprising to see Stafford's name in the ring of honor at some point, but there will surely still be arguments against his placement on one of the organization's most prestigious lists.
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