'Dad' Stafford Not 'Connecting' With Young Rams Teammates?
Potentially, for the first time in his career, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford's age is catching up to him ... except it's not performance-related.
Rather, it's an off-the-field issue, as his wife, Kelly Stafford, recently revealed during her podcast that the 35-year-old quarterback is having trouble connecting with his younger teammates.
“It’s kind of crazy," Kelly said about her husband. "So Matthew’s been in the league a long time. He’s like, ‘The difference in the locker room has changed so significantly.’ ... But he’s like, ‘I feel like I can’t connect. In the old days, you’d come out of practice, you’d shower, and people would be playing cards, interacting...
But they get out of practice and meetings during training camp, and they go straight to their phones. ... Matthew’s like, ‘I don’t know... Am I the dad? Do I take their phones? What do I do here?"
Being on phones after practice isn't the worst thing that is happening to Stafford, as Kelly later said that the veteran quarterback is even being called "sir" by his teammates.
“They say ‘sir’ to him and (stuff). He’s like, ‘No, we’re on the same level here; we’re both playing in the league. Let me get to know you.’”
After a 5-12 season and a roster with so many top stars starting to get on the other side of 30, Rams' general manager Les Snead decided it was time to start a "remodel."
No, not a rebuild, but a "remodel," which meant the Rams offloaded many of their expensive veterans and replaced them with rookies. Which has now brought about the unintended consequence of Stafford's inability to connect with his new teammates.
Not only will Stafford have to find a way to separate himself from being a mentor and a teammate, but will also, in some cases, have to find similarities with teammates who are, in some cases, 10 years younger than him.
While being one of the 'old heads' isn't necessarily new for the Rams quarterback, for the first time since the Detroit Lions drafted him, Stafford is on a team amid a rebuild. And he's about to play "Dad.''
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