Rob Parker Rips Matthew Stafford: 'Meet Stat Padford'
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Despite the excitement felt by many in Detroit that former quarterback Matthew Stafford is finally playing on a good football team, he will always have his fair share of critics.
As his career progressed, Detroit's former No. 1 overall draft pick earned the not-so-flattering nickname of "Stat Padford."
It came to represent and diminish his statistical accomplishments that occurred during games in which Detroit was trailing.
Former Detroit sports writer Rob Parker encouraged fans of the Los Angeles Rams to hold off on planning a parade for winning the Lombardi Trophy.
"I call him 'Stat Padford.' If you’re being honest about his career, it fits. People in Motown are in tears -- tears of joy, that is -- that the Lions finally dumped him. In fact, if COVID-19 wasn’t still gripping folks, there probably would have been a parade down Woodward on Sunday," Parker wrote in his latest column for Deadspin. "And the people on the Left Coast, and around NFL America, just haven’t watched close enough to know what the Rams are in for."
The reasons critics give are quite valid.
The Lions only made the playoffs on three occasions in his 12 seasons with Detroit, and they went 0-3 as a wild card entrant.
The biggest indictment Parker provides is that from his observations of the NFL, "The top QBs seem to be able to single-handedly win a game on talent alone."
To critics, Stafford never raised his game to that proverbial next level.
This new opportunity for Stafford in Los Angeles will either silence the critics or will validate those -- like Parker -- that believe Stafford's accomplishments ring hollow.
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Roundtable: Stafford Era Ends in Detroit
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