ATHENS — The kindness and character of former Georgia football quarterback Matthew Stafford was on exhibit once again in a recent dealing with the Detroit Lions fan.
Stafford took it upon himself to help a father who had sold one of his favorite pieces of memorabilia, a signed Stafford jersey, so that he could take his daughter to a Detroit Lions’ playoff game.
Stafford, a former No. 1 overall pick who left Georgia with a road win over Alabama and now has a Super Bowl victory in the NFL, stands as one of the greatest UGA quarterbacks in history.
Stafford finished his most recent season with a 324-yard, 2-TD, 0-interception performance in a 28-22 loss to the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles.
Stafford was driving the Los Angeles Rams for the potential game-winning touchdown before former UGA star Jalen Carter broke through the line and sacked him on a third down, and pressured him into a quick incompletion on fourth down.
It’s not a stretch to say that had Stafford had better pass protection — he was sacked 5 times that day — he could be en route to winning a second Super Bowl for the Rams.
Stafford remains a champion of the people, however, as his most recent act of kindness would suggest.
The 36-year-old Stafford, who went 30-9 playing at Georgia from 2006-2008 under coach Mark Richt, recently sent the Detroit fan a former game jersey from the Lions’ 11-5 season in 2014.
The story unfolded after the Detroit Free Press wrote a story about a fan, Bryson Machonga, who sold off an autographed Matthew Stafford jersey so that he could afford to take his daughter to the Lions’ playoff game against the Washington Commanders last month.
Machonga told Yahoo Sports he was contacted by the Los Angeles Rams soon after, with Stafford’s current NFL franchise office asking him for a shipping address so Stafford could send him a new game jersey.
“It just reconfirmed who Matthew Stafford is,” Machonga said. “He had no reason to go about doing this. He had no gain. He’s not our quarterback anymore .. he went out of his way in a playoff week.”
Richt, like Stafford known for high-character and great class, said Stafford’s heart-warming gesture didn’t surprise him.
“You could see the strength of Matthew’s character from the very beginning,” said Richt, who worked with Mike Bobo to ensure Stafford went from No. 1-ranked quarterback recruit in the. nation to No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.
“As highly recruited as he was nationally, Matthew wanted to make a decision early for Georgia in order to help us build as strong of a class around him as possible,” Richt told DawgNation. “He never wavered from his commitment during a time he was the most coveted quarterback in the nation.
“I always admired him for that.”
Matthew Stafford and his wife, former UGA cheerleader Kelly Hall, have continued to support the Detroit community they lived during his time with the Lions franchise.
This, even as Stafford has had to relocate his family on account of the forest fires that led to evacuations in Southern California.
Stafford has also continued to support Georgia, as he and his wife donated $1.5 million to the University of Georgia for the school’s social justice programs and scholarships four years ago.
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