Matthew Stafford smiled and shrugged his shoulders. For all he cares, they could be playing the Super Bowl on Mars. After 12 years of watching the game from another NFL planet, he's just thrilled to be in it.
SoFi? So what.
"If we were playing in it, I didn’t give a hell where it was," Stafford said about the Rams hosting the Super Bowl after knocking off the 49ers in the NFC Championship. "I mean, I don’t give a sh*t where it is. I’m like, I just wanna play in the dang thing. But the fact that it’s under this roof, it’s going to be awesome."
On the one-year anniversary of the trade that sent him from the Lions to the Rams, Stafford sent the Rams to the Super Bowl with three scoring drives in the fourth quarter that turned a 17-7 deficit into a 20-17 win. He went 0-3 in the playoffs over 12 seasons in Detroit. He's 3-0 in one season with the Rams, with six touchdowns, one pick and a passer rating of 115.3.
In the moments after the win, Stafford found a moment for himself. Asked what was going through his head as he stood alone on the Rams' sideline before joining his teammates in the middle of the field, Stafford said, "I don't know. I wasn't thinking I was going to do that. It just happened. Long time coming.
"Spent a lot of years in this league and have loved every minute of it. I feel blessed to be able to play in this league for as long as I have. But I sure am happy for this opportunity, for not only myself but really so many guys in the locker room that deserve this too. And that’s what it is, it’s an opportunity to go out there and win another one."
When he was officially introduced as the Rams' quarterback last March, Stafford said he wanted the opportunity to play in big games. He toiled in relative anonymity for 12 years in Detroit, mostly on losing teams. He asked for a trade because he couldn't stomach another rebuild. Now he's thriving in the spotlight, one win away from football immortality.
He was asked how the reality compares to everything he envisioned.
"I don’t know if I ever thought about what I would be feeling in this moment," Stafford said. "I probably just sat there and wished I could be in those games. So happy that I’ve had the opportunity to be in them and I’m going to have the opportunity to be in another one that I’ve always wanted to play in. I don’t know. I’m just excited for these guys and looking forward to the opportunity."
The opportunity will come in two weeks against the Bengals. A little over a year ago, Stafford never could have believed he would be here. His team was coming off its fourth straight last-place finish. It was searching for a new head coach and a new GM, again. It was resigned to another spell of irrelevance, more of the same for the franchise QB. And then Stafford decided the Lions had been his team long enough.
So it was off the Rams, on Jan. 30, 2021. On Jan. 30, 2022, it was off to the Super Bowl. When he thought back to the trade that changed his career, and that just might change his legacy, Stafford said, "I was obviously excited."
"That was probably my biggest thought at the moment, excitement to come and play with this group of players and this coaching staff and all these guys that work so hard," he said. "At the same time, knowing that it’s going to be a big move and a lot of change, but it’s been a great thing for me. Just happy that I’m here and happy to be a part of it."