Nate Burleson on Matthew Stafford: “He’s an old-school football player.”
Now a host on the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, former NFL wide receiver Nate Burleson discussed his relationship with Matthew Stafford on CBS Sports Radio with Jim Rome.
You can listen to the full conversation here.
Burleson played four seasons with Stafford for the Detroit Lions, and believes his former teammate will be a good fit in his new role as starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams.
“I love Matt Stafford,” Burleson said. “And he’s heavily criticized. I believe on our show Kyle Brandt said that Matt Stafford is the football equivalent to Carmelo Anthony: He puts up a lot of numbers. He might be respected by his peers, but he’s not a champion.
“And I can’t argue with that. Just because he’s my friend I’m not going to disagree when the facts are there. But as far as my personal relationship, Matt Stafford was cool. And not in a way that a lot of guys describe coolness. It’s not like ‘His swag was drippin’ and he was all sauced up.’ No, I’m talking about cool in the fact that he was comfortable in his skin being a football player.”
Burleson used an example of the charismatic receiver being a guy who regularly gave the pre-game talks for the Lions, and how Stafford admired him for being able to give impromptu speeches in front of the entire team, but wasn’t necessarily comfortable doing those kinds of things himself.
“I was a rah, rah guy,” Burleson said. “I could talk, and I could tell you how to poetically get ready for a football game and have your heart beating through your chest, and then go out there and score a couple of touchdowns and be a vocal leader and lead by example.
“I remember one thing that Matt said to me that always stood out. He’s was like, “Nate, I don’t know how you do it.’ And I was like ‘How to do what?” And he was like, “Off the top of your head, you just got us all going and you’re speaking from the heart. ‘And I was like, “You just got to speak from the gut,’ And he was like, ‘I don’t like speaking in front of big crowds. I imagine I have my helmet on because I’m the most comfortable when I have my helmet on.’
“And I never forget that, because that’s just a dude that feels comfortable being in his pads. Like, you know how they say be comfortable in your own skin. The safest place for Matt Stafford is in a football uniform. That’s a real football player. And if you look at the way he played and everything he’s dealt with, never asking for a trade up until this point. Even the injuries he’s played with, he’s just an old-school football player, and he has a rocket of an arm.
“So, to see him leave Detroit, it’s unfortunate. And my Detroit people are going to hate me for this. … But this will be the equivalent of the Lions trading Calvin Johnson to a contender at the end of his career. Yeah, I’d be sad for Detroit, but I’ll be happy for Calvin.”
