Stafford’s career highs and lows have made the debate about his chances at a gold jacket a polarizing topic
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s chances of making the NFL’s Hall of Fame came into debate once again this offseason, this time during an episode of The Rich Eisen Show. Host Rich Eisen, who also works as a sportscaster for NFL Network, posed the question to the co-hosts of his radio show Thursday with the group split on the veteran quarterback’s chances of getting into Canton.
After some back and forth on the topic, Eisen then took his turn and made it clear that he believes Stafford has done enough in his career to have earned his gold jacket when he hangs it up. Around 8:48 in the video below, Eisen pushed back on a co-host who argued the Rams QB was not a hall-of-famer, saying that it’s a “no brainer” Stafford should be in.
“The numbers I have given, to me, makes it a no brainer.” said Eisen “You can say “stat compiler” but he was doing it for one of the worst teams in the NFL and stuck it out to the point where he said “I need to go somewhere else”, and then as soon as he got somewhere else, he got the ring.”
One of the factors that has held many back from declaring Stafford a first ballot hall-of-famer is his lack of success during his stint with the Detroit Lions. Stafford was only able to reach the playoffs three times out of the 12 years he played in the motor city, and each of those appearances ended with a wild card elimination.
On Eisen’s show, Stafford’s time in Detroit was again mentioned as a negative mark on his resume. However, the host was quick to argue in the veteran quarterback’s defense, pointing out that Stafford couldn’t control being drafted first overall to a bad team:
“You can’t control who’s drafting you.” Eisen said “Now, you control if you stay with them, and he wanted to restore the roar there, and you know, the fact that he was a Lion that whole time, and he’s got better stats than Marino and he’s got a ring. How does that not?”
Despite his struggles to bring playoff success to the Lions, Stafford has completely rewritten the narrative in Los Angeles. Stafford went 4-0 on route to hoisting a Lombardi Trophy during his first trip to the post season with LA. In total, Stafford has taken the Rams to the playoffs in three of his four years with the team, including two NFC West division titles, a NFC divisional round appearance and a Super Bowl championship. In the season he did not make the playoffs, he only played in the first nine games before missing the remainder of the season due to injury.
The Rams head into 2025 as an expected Super Bowl contending team and with another major post-season run, and maybe even a second Lombardi, Stafford could finally cement himself among the NFL Legends in Canton, Ohio – if he hasn’t already.