With the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions selected QB Matthew Stafford out of Georgia.
Prior to the 2009 NFL Draft, Stafford played a round of golf with Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman and Aikman reportedly came away very impressed with Stafford’s excitement to play in Detroit.
During a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Stafford talked about what he said to Aikman on that day.
At that point, it was the only 0-16 team in the history of the NFL. Saddle up, here we go. But at the same time I was excited about the opportunity. One of our coaches asked us to write down on a piece of paper what your goals are, and I remember thinking about a Super Bowl parade in Detroit and how incredible that would be. I obviously didn’t get that done, something that still motivates me and is a big part of any reason why I’m still playing as anything. But I wanted that chance. I wanted that chance to take an organization that had never even sniffed that and give it a chance.
I felt along the way we got better as an organization, there’s no question about that, from when I got there until when I left. But I was barely 21 years old and just excited to get an opportunity. The bigger the challenge the better at that point. I was ready to take on whatever anybody had for me.
Say what you want about Stafford but you cannot argue that he did not want to win a Super Bowl badly for the city of Detroit.
