On the day of his birthday 17 This Monday, a reporter asked Matthew Stafford which actor he would like to play him in a movie about his life.
“I would say Leonardo DiCaprio. He is one of my favorite actors, he is a special actor, ”replied the Los Angeles Rams quarterback with a smile. “I don’t know how well he shoots the ball, but I’m sure with modern technology they can make it look good.”
A movie about Matthew Stafford is not something we’re going to see anytime soon -and maybe never-, but certainly one of the most famous films in which the Los Angeles actor has worked works well as allegory of what has been the rebirth of this experienced quarterback: “The Revenant” (The Revenant).
And it is that Stafford had a hard time in Detroit, where he was the quarterback and face of the Lions franchise in his early days 12 seasons in the NFL, with only four of them being winning campaigns, without a only triumph in playoff games, injuries suffered and many, many defeats that overshadowed his undeniable ability.
The 30 from January of 2021, the Rams shook up the NFL by acquiring Stafford in a mega-trade that put Jared Goff on a plane to Detroit, along with two 1st picks. round of the Draft.
The idea of the Rams management and head coach Sean McVay was to improve the quarterback position in a team that already looked very strong and almost ready to aspire to the Super Bowl.
“We went looking for him because we thought it was an opportunity to get a great player of his magnitude. Those opportunities don’t come along very often,” McVay recalled recently.
“What he has done is lift everyone around him. He has made me a better coach. He has made his teammates better. He is a great person… If you are not rooting for this man, something is wrong with you”.
Exactly on the anniversary of that agreement, Matthew Stafford led the Rams to Super Bowl LVI by coming from behind 10 points in the fourth quarter and beat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
And now, he can be the quarterback to present the city of Los Angeles with its first Vince Lombardi Trophy since the Raiders did it in January of 1536.
Perhaps the idea of the film should be taken more seriously.
“These kinds of opportunities are what you play for,” Stafford said heading into Sunday’s game against the surprising Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium. “I feel very lucky to be in this situation and to be able to go out on the field once again alongside this group of players.”
The man who came to LA without a single playoff win has now stringed together three in a row playing at a very high level (72% Passes Completed, 905 yards, 6 TD passes, 1 intercepted), including two game-winning fourth-quarter drives to first fire Tom Brady and the champion Buccaneers, then eliminate some 49ers who had beaten the Rams six times in a row.
Stafford: “Pressure is a privilege”
The pressure of having to respond in big games and in a market where winning championships is essential to be relevant has not stopped Stafford, who has seemed calm and in complete control of the situation in the most important games in the recent history of the Rams.
“Here in the Rams we say all the time that pressure is a privilege, something that is expected and that we ourselves expect; I think the most important thing is the excitement of having this opportunity and everything it took us to get here,” said the player born in Florida and raised in Dallas, where he was a high school teammate of Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw.
Stafford gave McVay that combination of skill, experience and character that the Rams would need to reach the Super Bowl in a year in which not doing so would have represented an absolute failure for the organization . This one bet everything he could in search of conquering the crown in his own stadium.
Matthew Stafford (right .) this week alongside Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell. /Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesThe challenge was actually huge, but he didn’t The Rams’ 9 jersey was too big. One of the reasons for his success has been his ability to ignore outside noise and only focus on the most basic things: game by game, play by play . Although the Super Bowl is obviously not just another game, he has done a good job of treating it as if it were.
“We are excited about this opportunity. But at the same time, once the ball is snapped for the first play it’s just going to be just another game; we are going to try to execute and play at our highest level, trusting the teammate next to us, trusting ourselves, and enjoying the experience”, explained Stafford, who needs only 209 yards to sign a full season of 6,000 yards, something only Dan Marino (1984), Tom Brady (2011), Drew Brees (2013), Eli Manning (2011) and Peyton Manning (2013) have succeeded.
Stafford has been especially lethal when opposing defenses have tried to pressure him by sending the charge or “ blitz”. This season there was no one in the league more effective than him in that situation, a clear reflection of mental agility and clean execution. He explains it with his characteristic humility: “The part that made me very successful against the ‘blitz’ is my teammates.”
One of those teammates, catcher Cooper Kupp, has historically been a standout. Counting the playoffs, accumulate 80 caught, 2,300 yards and 20 touchdowns. Those are brutal statistics never seen before, and although Kupp has always been an excellent player, his ultimate explosion as a superstar has to do with his quarterback’s arm, with whom he has developed formidable chemistry.
“It’s the love for this game. We never get tired of talking about American football, ”said Kupp a few weeks ago about what unites him with his quarterback. On that occasion, Kupp revealed that they would get together in the morning to have breakfast and watch movies of the games and talk about plays.
Stafford’s difficult years prepared him for this
Behind Stafford’s very successful first campaign in Los Angeles there is a whole career marked by adversity that he himself points out as a crucial part of his current situation one win away from lifting the Lombardi trophy. He even makes the noble reflection that on Sunday at SoFi Stadium he will be playing on behalf of many of his former teammates from his years in Detroit.
“I really appreciate everyone’s support and I know that when I play this Sunday or any other time I am a representation of all those experiences that I had with all those people, and I feel that every time I go out to I play the court not only for myself, but for all those who helped me get here,” he shared. Stafford’s maturity and fullness was never at its best.
But in the end, Stafford says that if it weren’t for the support of his wife Kelly and his four daughters (Sawyer and Chandler, twins of 4 years; Hunter of 3 and Tyler of 1 year) would not be in the Super Bowl one step away from sports glory.
After his great performance to beat San Francisco Two Sundays ago, one of his girls told her teacher at school that her dad would be at the Super Bowl. Stafford said she was surprised when the teacher told her that he already knew and was rooting for him to win.
“I think they don’t understand the magnitude of what is happening, but they are excited that their dad is in the Super Bowl and they have one more game to enjoy and get excited about,” said the man of the moment in Los Angeles, the father from a family that is very close to defining his legacy as an athlete.
“Sometimes I pinch myself when I think about this opportunity to play in the Super Bowl with great teammates and trainers. I’m just happy for the opportunity”.
The opportunity is just a few days away and then maybe someone will be encouraged to call Leonardo DiCaprio for a new edition of ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”.
Ricardo López Juárez is the official Spanish-language analyst for the Los Angeles Rams
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