For Stafford’s own safety and sanity, he should demand a trade
I will never forget the shock I felt when Wayne Gretzky was traded away from the Edmonton Oilers. Back in 1988, I was nine years old, and really just beginning my Detroit sports fandom.
The Red Wings had just been defeated by the Oilers in the Clarence Campbell Conference Finals, and Edmonton then went on to win the Stanley Cup that season.
The scene was memorable. There was a hockey great, crying at a podium, after being traded to the Los Angeles Kings.
For a large segment of Lions fans, that same emotion may emanate whenever the decision is made to move on from quarterback Matthew Stafford.
For the long-suffering fanbase, Stafford is the best quarterback it has ever witnessed — in person or on television.
The great comebacks, the goal-line trickery in 2013 against Dallas, the game against Cleveland early in his career and playing through extreme pain have all endeared the veteran QB to the Motor City.
But, not all stories have happy endings.
Not all greats get to end their careers in the city where they started, despite even winning Stanley Cups or Lombardi Trophies.
For Stafford and the Lions, the writing is on the wall.
This story will not end with
an older version of Stafford winning Detroit’s first Super Bowl and riding off into the sunset.
Not in Detroit. Not for Stafford.
The time has come for the former No. 1 overall draft pick and ultimate team player to be selfish.
It is time for Stafford to take ownership of his career and his health and demand to be traded.
“I’ll keep it 100 with you. Like, listen, he’s either going to win there this year or a winner’s going to come get him. … Maybe, I’m stupid and naïve and biased. I just think eventually he’ll either win there or will be on a winner (somewhere else if he doesn’t), because of it,” ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said via the Detroit Free Press.
“It’s time from both the organization standpoint and the player’s position, as well. It didn’t work out,” Orlovsky tweeted, after head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn were dismissed. It just didn’t work out.
And, to make matters worse for Stafford, he has not been able to remain healthy the past three seasons.
From severe back injuries to various hand ailments, Stafford is now dealing with a painful rib injury, which he suffered in Week 14 against the Green Bay Packers.
A body that has been beaten up for the past five years is not getting younger, as Stafford will