Former Teammate Does Not Hold Back About Rams’ Matthew Stafford
· Yahoo Sports
Matthew Stafford, the player, is well-known, with the Los Angeles Rams star coming off an MVP-winning season. Stafford, the teammate, is less frequently discussed, though the way those who have played with him rave about him speaks volumes.
Some of his acts have created memories that will last for a lifetime.
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Former Detroit Lions teammate and current Washington Commanders offensive coordinator David Blough shared a story about one such instance.
Commanders OC Gets Honest About Rams’ Matthew Stafford
GettyMatthew Stafford made a strong impression on Washington Commanders OC David Blough.
The Lions acquired Blough in a trade with the Cleveland Browns in 2019, when the now-coach was a rookie out of Purdue. Stafford, just two years away from his trade to the Rams, was already an 11th-year veteran with a Pro Bowl under his belt.
Blough went on to play two more seasons in Detroit, departing after the 2021 season–in which Stafford and the Rams won the Super Bowl–to join the Arizona Cardinals.
Blough noted how much of an example Stafford set for him that first season.
“That 2019 season, I went from Cleveland–Freddy Kitchens is the head coach–to Detroit, with Matt Patricia as the head coach. And it was a different culture, different organization. I had to kind of learn the ropes,” Blough told Ari Meirov on “NFL Spotlight” on July 14.
“I think, probably, the biggest beneficiary I walked into in Detroit was that Matthew Stafford was a starting quarterback, and I got to see how he operated. And I’m sure everybody, who you’ve ever talked to who has encountered him would say the same thing, just about his professionalism. How he handles being a quarterback in the NFL. So for me, I got, shoot, call it 12 weeks of watching him operate before my opportunity came.”
Blough returned to Detroit for the 2023 season, and he is now heading into his second season as the Commanders’ OC.
Notably, Stafford and the Rams will visit Blough’s Commanders in Week 9 this season.
Ex-Lions Teammate Tells Revealing Story AboutMatthew Stafford
GettyMatthew Stafford once took it upon himself to reunite David Blough and his wife, Melissa Blough.
Stafford’s hospitality went beyond the game of football for Blough, though. The coach also cited a moment that speaks to the Rams star’s compassion. Stafford, family-oriented as he is, did not stand by as logistics kept Blough from his wife.
Blough’s wife, Melissa Blough, was competing internationally during the 2019 season, and it had been some time since they saw one another.
As the Rams’ bye week (Week 5 that season) approached, Stafford stepped in.
“Our bye week was after Week 4, and I had known Matthew for a full month. That’s it. Just one month. And our bye-week was coming up,” Blough told Meirov, noting that his wife’s season had concluded by that point. “He [Stafford] says, ‘How come she can’t fly home? How come she can’t come back for the bye week? You need to see her. It’s a long season.’
“He called me. He goes, ‘Hey, can she get on a flight tomorrow night from Doha [Qatar] to Chicago? You can pick her up there. I’ll pay for it. I’ll fly your wife home for you.’”
Blough was taken aback by his still-new teammate’s generosity. He noted that he had known Stafford for one month by that point. Most importantly, Blough’s wife made the flight, and they spent the bye week together.
But in that moment, Stafford imparted something to Blough that the coach still carries with him.
“He did all the logistics, right? The money was just a drop in the bucket. But what I learned in that moment was that he was trying to make every single person’s experience in the NFL special. Whether it was a janitor, whether it was a chef, whether it was one of his teammates who was in and out of the building for a week on the practice squad. He didn’t know if I was going to be there later that season. I was undrafted. Had just been traded there. He was trying to make my experience in the NFL special,” Blough said.
“It’s just a testament to who he is as a man. So now, I can go forward as a coach and think, ‘I don’t know if this player will make our 53-man roster or will be here in training camp. But I can make his experience special with how I treat him just because I saw that in Matthew.”
For the Rams, that is an encouraging sign. Stafford has been charged with mentoring his eventual replacement, Ty Simpson, the 13th overall pick of the 2026 draft.
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