While scrolling through Twitter this morning, I came across an article from Sports Illustrated titled, “Does Matthew Stafford Belong on Ring of Honor List?”
In that article, the author discusses whether or not Stafford should be included in this ring of honor, which is actually called the “Pride of the Lions” without really giving an opinion one way or the other.
The author begins by saying that Stafford is “arguably one of the organization’s best to ever play” quarterback for the Lions.
This take immediately got me fired up because anyone with even the slightest clue about football (no disrespect to the SI author) knows that Stafford was not only ONE of the organizations’ quarterbacks of all time, but he IS the best to ever play quarterback for the Lions (Sorry Bobby Layne).
During his career time in the Motor City, Stafford set (and mostly obliterated) at least 30 Lions’ passing records, including completions (3,898), passing yards (45,109), and completion percentage (62.6%)
Sure, Stafford never won a single playoff game for the Lions but to be fair, there are not many quarterbacks in NFL history that would have won more than a couple of playoff games with the roster and coaching staff he had around him.
As we speak, the “Pride of the Lions” includes the following players:
| Pride of the Lions | ||||
| No. | Player | Position | Tenure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Lem Barney | CB | 1967–1977 | |
| 76 | Roger Brown | DT | 1960–1966 | |
| 24 | Jack Christiansen | DB | 1951–1958 | |
| 7 | Dutch Clark | QB | 1934–1938 | |
| 76 | Lou Creekmur | G/T | 1950–1959 | |
| 4 | Jason Hanson | K | 1992–2012 | |
| 71 | Alex Karras | DT | 1958–1970 | |
| 81 | Dick “Night Train” Lane | CB | 1960–1965 | |
| 28 | Yale Lary | DB, P | 1952–1953 1956–1964 | |
| 22 | Bobby Layne | QB | 1950–1958 | |
| 44 | Dick LeBeau | DB | 1959–1972 | |
| 84 | Herman Moore | WR | 1991–2001 | |
| 20 | Barry Sanders | RB | 1989–1998 | |
| 88 | Charlie Sanders | TE | 1968–1977 | |
| 56 | Joe Schmidt | LB | 1953–1965 | |
| 63 | Dick Stanfel | OG | 1952–1955 | |
| 37 | Doak Walker | HB | 1950–1955 | |
| 50 | Alex Wojciechowicz | C, LB | 1938–1946 | |
There are certainly some amazing players in that group and by the time all is said and done, there is absolutely ZERO question that Matthew Stafford WILL be a part of it and SHOULD be a part of it as he is the best QB in Lions’ franchise history.
What do you think?
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