Where did Matthew Stafford go to college?

John Matthew Stafford, commonly known as Matthew Stafford, is the current starting quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams franchise in the NFL. He was a long-time starting signal caller for the Detroit Lions before he was traded to the Rams in 2021. Having been in the league since 2009, Stafford is now a 14-year veteran and currently playing in his 15th season.

Although Stafford was born in Tampa, Florida, the family moved to Georgia as his father attended graduate school there. Then, the family moved to Dallas, Texas, and Stafford attended Highland Park High School which is considered one of the most highly-rated high school football programs.

Stafford was so good as a quarterback in high school that ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. stated that Stafford would be the eventual number one draft pick when the time came even before Stafford had stepped foot on the college scene. By the end of his high school football career, he had thrown for just under 9,000 yards and 91 passing touchdowns even though he started just 3 games.

Matthew Stafford College

In 2006, Stafford graduated early from high school and enrolled in the University of Georgia. He became a true freshman starter for the Georgia Bulldogs football team over the next three years.

In his freshman season, Stafford played in 13 games but started 8 of them and had a 6-2 record. Racking up 1,749 passing yards with 7 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, Stafford had a pretty ordinary year by his lofty expectations. His sophomore season was much better but still not one to rave about. He did lead the Bulldogs to an 11-2 record from 13 starts and threw for 2,523 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Stafford’s junior year was by far the best year of his college football career. In 13 games he led the team to a 10-3 record but had 3,459 passing yards and a touchdown to interception ratio of 25:10. That year he also won the MVP Award for the 2009 Capital One Bowl.

At the end of his junior year, several experts predicted that if he left school before his senior year, he would be the number one overall pick. That is exactly what Stafford did and despite not having the best college football career one would expect, he was still drafted as the number one overall pick by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Matthew Stafford NFL

Entering the NFL in 2009 as the new face of the Detroit Lions franchise, Stafford struggled quite a bit during his time in the motor city. He became the starting quarterback for the Lions in his rookie season itself but could only lead the team to a 2-8 record in 10 games.

He seemed to have a breakthrough year in 2011 as he led the Lions to a 10-6 record and a spot in the playoffs only to lose in the Wild Card Round to the New Orleans Saints.

As a matter of fact, in the upcoming years, Stafford and the Lions could only manage two more postseasons in 2014 and 2016 and they crashed out of the playoffs in the Wild Card Round each time. After 2016, the Lions went four straight seasons without a playoff berth with Stafford under center and the management decided it was time for a change.

The Tampa native was then traded to the Los Angeles Rams in March 2021 in exchange for their quarterback, Jared Goff, and a 2021 third-round pick and two first-round picks in 2022 and 2023.

The trade immediately paid dividends and was a win-win for both Stafford as well as the Rams as they went on to win Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals in Stafford’s first year with his new team. Unfortunately, though, 2022 was a down year for Stafford as he only played in 9 games and his season came to an end early after week 13 following a season-ending spinal cord contusion injury.