Matthew Stafford has 0 playoff wins. Has never won the NFC North. And has never played a playoff game at home. His record vs winning teams is unsightly. Just last week, in year 12 of his NFL career, he the threw an interception that was the beginning of yet another epic Lions collapse. As many would assume, none of these are the leading reasons why I continually praise my favorite NFL player, and why I consistently post him with the caption/hashtag #myqb.

Yes, I wish the Lions won more. Yes, I wish for nothing more than for Staff to have his MVP glory season where he’s able to host a playoff game at home. Yes my greatest desire in sports is for the Detroit Lions to win a Super Bowl. And this week more than ever, after yet another insanely absurd divisional fourth quarter loss, it’s easier than ever to point at Stafford and the Lions and say “shut up and stick to football”.

Why I continually praise Matthew Stafford is in part for what he does on the field (despite all the stats contrary mentioned above), but there’s also a very big part of who he is as a person, and what he does off the field is why I, without hesitation, praise him as #myqb.

If you haven’t seen it, Matthew Stafford recently contributed to The Players’ Tribune with a short piece entitled We Can’t Just Stick To Football. 

The article touches on Matthew Stafford’s view of the racial tension and inequality happening in America today. He talks about how him and his teammates cancelled practice back in late August and shared stories, feelings, fears, and everything in between about the state of police brutality and people of color.

He talks about how he has been privileged his whole life, how he never learned what it was like to view life in someone else’s shoes, and shares a personal story about how he treated differently when with a group of black players.

It’s real. It’s human. And it’s what leadership looks like. It’s someone in the City of Detroit I can be proud of. If I had kids, it would be someone I could point to and say- be like that guy.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

People think athletes make so much money that they should do nothing except their jobs on the field and ignore everything else. But in reality, in America, we pay these athletes so much money and idolize them. They are expected to be leaders not only in their locker rooms, but for their cities and communities, and if the Lions sitting out a practice and Stafford contributing a column about racial equality isn’t supporting and representing the city and community of Detroit, I don’t really know what is.

It blows my mind the amount of people who were so upset about the Lions sitting out a practice, if you don’t believe me, take a deep long dive into these comments…which I salute the brave Lions social team for leaving comments on:

I don’t want my athlete’s to just “shut up and play” if the world is burning around them. I commend standing up for what you believe in, that’s what leaders do. And that’s why Matty Staff will always be #myqb.

#forward 🍾

– Frank