Matthew Stafford knows what to expect when he returns to Ford Field as an opponent on Sunday.
The Rams quarterback, who spent 12 seasons with the Lions before being traded to Los Angeles, said he “wanted to sniff” the booing from fans during the season opener at Detroit, which the Rams also lost to in the wild-card game in January.
“I want to hear it all,” Stafford said. According to the Los Angeles Times“I want to smell it. I want to experience football. That's part of football, especially when you go to away games. That's what motivates me.”
“I feel the crowd 100 percent. It's a motivating factor. I love it.”
Stafford's wife, Kelly, said she has no plans to return to Ford Field after their four daughters were booed during the wild-card game, but Stafford is ready to deal with a tougher environment in his second game there.
“Obviously, I think we'll have one more game to play against that field than we did last year,” he said.
Stafford was booed when he took the field in January, even though he completed 25 of 36 attempts for 367 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams' playoff loss.
When asked if there would be any benefit to returning to the venue for the final game of the 2023 season, he explained: “Each game we play, regardless of when or where we play, is a special event in itself.”
“Just because something happened a year ago doesn't mean it will happen again — good, bad or neither.”
The Lions selected the quarterback out of Georgia with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft and traded the two-time Pro Bowl player to the Rams in 2021 in a blockbuster trade for Jared Goff.
Both teams enter the season with high expectations in the NFC.
The Lions are among the favorites to win the Super Bowl, while the Rams are looking to build on a 10-7 season that saw many predict they were rebuilding.
Stafford's comments came after Kelly explained on a recent podcast, “The Morning After,” that he would not attend Sunday's game, which marks the start of Stafford's 16th NFL season.
“Physically, I [attending the game in Detroit]Kelly said: “After our amazing live show [on Sept. 7 in Detroit]I'm going to get on a plane and go home and watch it with my girls. [in L.A.]that's the plan.”
Kelly explained that she will not be attending the season opener “for her mental health reasons” after her last visit with her daughters — 7-year-old twins Sawyer and Chandler, 6-year-old Hunter and 4-year-old Tyler — did not go well.
“I actually asked them if they wanted to come back … and they said, 'No,' so that's another reason why we're not returning to play,” Kelly said on the podcast, “… There's a lot that goes into this … but I feel like it's the better decision for my mental health and for my daughters.”
“My husband doesn't want to hear me being 'Uh-oh' and down, but I grew up with it so I don't think I'm going to be down about it. I forget that it's football and it's a big deal in Detroit. I forget that and I get so emotional that I even forget that it's a playoff football game.”
“In a way, I wish my daughters were prepared, but I don't think it's worth it at this point, so it's better this way.”
