Hi everyone,
I hope you all have been great as we transition into Spring (aka NHL and NBA playoffs and the start of MLB). As you know no matter what season it is, my mind is constantly on football. Since the offseason I’ve taken some time off to relax and unwind, but with our latest guest on the “Calm Down” podcast with my friend Charissa Thompson, I was pulled back into football and one of the biggest story lines from last year’s offseason…Matthew Stafford.
As a refresher, Stafford who had spent 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions since he was drafted first overall in 2009, was traded to the Rams to “complete” their offense and set in motion their charge towards a Super Bowl winning season. To add some flare to the story, the idea of a potential trade started when the Head Coach of the Rams, Sean McVay and Stafford were vacationing at the same resort in Cabo…after talking about what the Rams offense could be with the QB on board and maybe a few drinks, both sides moved forward with getting Stafford to LA. And if you’ve seen AT&Ts newest commercial featuring Matthew you know that the plan went to perfection, ending with the Rams winning Super Bowl LVI in their home stadium.
With so much to cover during our 45 minutes with Matthew, I immediately wanted to get into his head about the last few moments of his dramatic Super Bowl victory a couple of months ago. To set the scene the Rams needed to make a crucial stop on 4th Down to seal the win in the final seconds. What was the Pro Bowl QB thinking, doing, saying? To start, he thought it was 3rd Down…and didn’t realize he had won the biggest game of his career until a teammate came up to him yelling “we won, we won, that was 4th down!”. “I was sitting there, looking down at my feet and missed the play before”.
The funny thing is, his wife Kelly (who is AMAZING!) was doing the exact same thing – to the point that people were checking on her to see if she was sick. I was at the game and holding my breath the entire last series so I can only imagine how he was feeling as the clock ticked down!
One crucial piece of information that I was dying to know about was what artist, song or playlist Matthew had on before the Big Game. As a lover of music, I’m always curious about which artists get these superstar athletes in the zone before some of their biggest moments. Stafford’s answer was a little surprising to be honest, “I am not a huge pre-game music guy, especially when we play away games”.
Part of the fun and getting into a rhythm before a game comes from Stafford hearing the away fans boo or his home fans cheer when he hits the field. Instead of adding walls between him and the fans, he uses the positive or negative thrown his way to lock in and focus. He did admit however that when he plays in NY, he can’t resist the urge to throw on a little Sinatra – and honestly, who can?!
The singular THING that I needed to get across to the audience during the episode is genuinely how funny Matthew is! Whether it’s the subtle wink in the AT&T commercial, him deciding to walk face first into his pool to wake himself up after spending the night celebrating his Super Bowl win, to being approached by “interesting” fans (Check the podcast for the full story!) Matthew is sneaky funny!
What are your thoughts on Matthew Stafford’s incredible journey in the NFL so far? Do you think the Rams can repeat?
Until next time,
Erin
