Stafford has long put up big numbers without winning. Now that he finally has a ring, will he be headed to Canton?
It took 4,509 days from his NFL debut for Matthew Stafford to finally win a playoff game. Four weeks later, he finally has his Super Bowl ring.
Stafford languished for 12 years with the Lions, posting an 86-95-1 record and making only three postseason appearances despite consistently posting gaudy passing stats. Now that he finally has a championship, many around the game are speculating that he could be on his way to the Hall of Fame once he decides to call it a career.
Not included among that group? Five-time All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman.
Sherman, who won Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seahawks and was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 2010s, took to Twitter to explain why he's not impressed enough with Stafford's Hall of Fame résumé, calling the bar for entry into the Hall of Fame "incredibly low."
Stafford currently ranks 12th on the NFL's career passing yards leaderboard, topping plenty of current Hall of Famers including Warren Moon, Dan Fouts and Joe Montana, though that clearly is a reflection of the evolved offensive styles of the current era. He made his lone Pro Bowl appearance in 2014 and was named the league's Comeback Player of the Year in ’11.
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At 34 years old, Stafford is under contract through the 2022 season, so it will be interesting to see how many more years he'll play (and whether or not the Rams can defend their title next season). Against the Bengals on Sunday, he completed 26 of 40 pass attempts for 283 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
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