LA Rams QB Stafford told Lions’ Goff ‘You are a really good player’

Like ships passing in the night, two NFL quarterbacks whose careers will forever be connected. The quarterbacks are veterans Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff. Stafford was the first player selected in the 2009 NFL Draft. Goff was the first player selected in the 2016 NFL Draft. Both play quarterbacks. Both have been their team’s starting quarterback since that draft.

Now both quarterbacks are playing for the other quarterback’s team.

The LA Rams are welcoming a solid veteran quarterback named Matthew Stafford to the locker room. But the arrival is bittersweet because longtime quarterback Jared Goff will be on his way to the Detroit Lions.

Matthew and Kelly Stafford appeared in a recent podcast of the Mitch Albom show. At the 16:50 make in the podcast, Matthew Stafford describes how he reached out to Jared Goff and texted him.

Of course, inevitably the conversation touched upon that interaction.

"‘Yeah, I sent him a text…I texted him a little bit. I just told him that I know going out there that I have big shoes to fill. It’s not lost on me that he was in the Super Bowl just a few years ago (Super Bowl LIII) so he’s a really good player in his own right. I just wanted to let him know that I appreciate him as a player, and obviously to reach out to me if there is anything he needed when it comes to Detroit in terms of advice…’- Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford per the Mitch Albom podcast"

While it’s what you might expect, it’s the type of gesture that comes from a veteran. It was the right thing to do. But not everyone would be willing to offer that up.

Confidence.

It takes confidence to compliment another. And it takes empathy to understand that it was needed. The LA Rams traded for a veteran quarterback who has the maturity to make the right call and can stay focused on what is important. Yes, it was a simple gesture.

But he did it before he ever stepped onto the football field. Matthew Stafford is authentic.

That’s enough for now.  He’ll fit right in with the players in the Rams locker room.