Darius Slay is thrilled for the Lions, but not so pleased with the team's fans after they booed Matthew Stafford in his return to Detroit.
Slay, who spent the first seven years of his career with the Lions and got love from the fans when he returned to Ford Field with the Eagles in 2021, said Wednesday that he's "so happy for the Lions," who are coming off their first playoff win in 32 years, and "the city deserves that."
"But I heard they booed Stafford -- that’s the only thing I don’t like," Slay told reporters in Philly. "That’s kind of bad right there, I ain’t gon lie, Detroit, man. I know y’all playing him in the playoffs and y’all wanna win, y’all could’ve gave him a little standing ovation for 30 seconds, just acknowledge what he did for that organization for 12 years."
After both Stafford and his wife Kelly, who was on the field with their four daughters, were booed by the raucous crowd at Ford Field prior to the Lions' 24-23 win over the Rams, Slay said that "if I was Stafford, I probably wouldn’t even step back over there no more. Yeah, that’s bad business."
"That was terrible, Detroit, man, we gotta be better than that. They gots to be better than that," said Slay. "They’re a good fanbase as well, but they can’t do that to Staff. Because when I came there, even though they was losing, they gave me a little standing ovation. I did a lot for the city as well, but s**t, not close to Staff. Now that they winning, they wanna get uppity like that on that man and he the one that brought y’all back a little bit from 0-16 and all that."
Slay, who was teammates with Stafford for the duration of his time in Detroit, said he knows he "might lose some of the fan base over there" by objecting to the boos, but it’s alright. For my dog Staff, that’s kind of bad."
Asked about the Lions potentially playing in the NFC championship game, Slay said, "I want them to go for the city, you know?" before adding, "Really not for the city, I’m lying. For the players."
It echoed what Stafford said after the game last week. Asked if he was happy that the city where he spent a significant part of his life finally got to enjoy a playoff win, Stafford said, "I'm happy for the players."