Matthew Stafford is at the stage of his career now where the topic of retirement comes up every offseason, but the Rams’ MVP quarterback says he has no plans to plan ahead. “It is year-to-year because I think it’s fair to the team, I think it’s fair to me, my family—I don’t want to sit there and say, OK, 24 months from now, I’ve got to be ready to play another football season,“ Stafford revealed, in a wide-ranging interview with former Rams pass rusher Chris Long.
It’s a fair retort for a quarterback
who has earned the right to make these important decisions when the moment is right, and not to promise something now that he can’t deliver later, just to appease those who are curious, including Sean McVay.
During Stafford’s 42-minute appearance on Long’s “Green Light” podcast, the two Rams discuss everything from his “debilitating” back pain, how he trains differently, and what’s ahead. As far as he can see, at least.
Here were some of the most important pieces of the interview, as I saw them.
“Things have just changed”
Long asked Stafford about his training methods and how they’ve changed over the years since 2009 and 2010. Said Long;
“Watching guys train, they have so much information at their fingertips that we just didn’t have in that era of football. When did you start to see the change to where you’re doing weight room 301 and preparation 301, my weight room stuff is smarter. Is there that much difference for a quarterback between year one and year eighteen?”
Stafford sat up and smiled before responding to this, and then went on to describe the weight training in his early years.
“I remember hand-clinging and front-squatting and doing all sorts like and just throwing on straps on the wrist in the NFL and just seeing how much weight I could yank up to my neck and thinking ‘what the hell am I doing’. Looking back on that now, I would fold under that right now.”
Stafford heads in a different direction for a moment and goes on to describe some rule changes that help extend QBs’ careers, and I was surprised that he thought it was the penalty a defensive player gets for landing with his full weight on the QB while completing a sack that made the most difference and not the hit to the knees that I’d assumed it would be.
Long comes back to say, “Ya, but it made a helluva story at the end of the Browns game,” referencing Stafford’s Mic’d Up moment. The clip that coincidentally opened my eyes to Matthew Stafford’s toughness.
Training has changed for the better
After a back-and-forth where they bring up ‘Ground force’ along with several references to golfers and pitchers and the similarities to throwing a football where there is so much torque and using the legs Stafford says;
“It morphed a little bit. I would say kinda five, six years ago is when I started really training and moving in that direction too.”
“I think it’s important for quarterbacks to work on the rotational aspect of it. Upper body and lower body, and how all of that coordinates, is such a big part of our job.”
I find it remarkable that it was only after he joined the Rams that his training became position-specific. I would have to imagine that Tom Brady was years ahead of Stafford in this aspect of the game, so maybe now with this new regime and a good diet, he can enjoy a career into his forties?
How’s your back?
Long goes on to question Stafford about his back and asks if it gets to the point, as it has for him, where he has to stay in bed for a day?
“The most recent stuff has really been the lower back. And it’s the deal when, like, it’s really bad, it’s the nerve pain shooting down the legs, and, um, just completely locked up, and it’s debilitating, right, and demoralizing. You just sit there and go ya, this sucks; I can’t move, but then it’s like, ” When’s it going to go away, and how can I make it go away. It just bums me out.“ Stafford goes on to say it’s a never-ending battle, taking steps in everyday life to keep it at bay, pointing out how he’s got a pillow behind his back while they’re chatting.
Oh, the glamorous life of an NFL quarterback.
Stafford’s contract negotiations and how long will he play
There has been much speculation about Stafford’s recent contract extensions and what’s he thinking going year to year.
“It is year-to-year because I think it’s fair to the team, I think it’s fair to me, my family—I don’t want to sit there and say, OK, 24 months from now, I’ve got to be ready to play another football season. I’m like, phew, that just seems like a lot. I know that I’m ready to play this year. And hopefully, I feel great at the end of next year, and I’m ready to play another one after that. And then maybe we just kind of keep going like that. But, committing to more than that feels a little bit daunting. And I think a little bit unfair to the team and myself.
“So, the last thing I want to do is sign some five-year extension, and after one year be like, ‘Oh man, I’m ready to retire. I want to spend time with my family.’ And they’re sitting there with four years on the books and had a bunch of planning done that I was going to be around. I don’t want to play football not all the way in it, too, and just be half-assed leading it.”
“I think one of the things that surprised me is, I was talking to Drew—this was before last season—and he was like, ‘How old are you, again?’ I was like, ‘I’m 37,'” the Los Angeles Rams quarterback said. “He’s like, ‘You might have your best five years of your career coming up.’ And I was like, ‘Huh. I never really thought about it that way.’
“When I was getting traded to LA, just having those initial conversations with Sean and it was like, you know, I don’t know. I think maybe three, three or four more max left feels right.”
“Then now it’s like, I don’t know, maybe I’ll just keep rolling. My girls love watching me play and uhhh, might as well.”
Stafford’s family isn’t the only ones who love to watch him play, as there are quite a few Rams fans not ready to watch him walk away either.
