One ring to rule them all. A Super Bowl ring. That’s why the game is played, right? To win one of those big, shiny rings. Individual accolades are great, but winning is the purest form of success. But it’s not easy. Winning a Super Bowl can drastically alter the way a player’s legacy is viewed, and should the Rams win on Sunday, a Super Bowl ring could change how we look at Matthew Stafford.
As the number one overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Stafford spent the first 12 seasons of his career with the Detroit Lions – a franchise known for perpetual disappointment. Drafting Stafford was a sign of hope for a team that had just finished the 2008 NFL season with an 0-16 record. Stafford was known as a gunslinger who could make just about every throw required to make it big in the NFL.
Could Stafford be the quarterback to help the Detroit Lions finally get to the promised land? On paper, it seemed certain, but aside from pairing him with Calvin Johnson – one of the greatest receivers of all-time – the Lions front office failed to build a team worthy of competing for a championship. In his 12 seasons with the Lions, Stafford only made the postseason three times and never won a game. For what it’s worth, his numbers were adequate, but not dazzling – completing 63.6 percent of his passes, throwing four touchdowns against three interceptions.
They aren’t the numbers of a quarterback who is capable of elevating his team, but it’s also unfair to use those numbers against Stafford. It’s a pretty small sample size, but right now, it’s a meaningful part of his complicated legacy. Right now, Stafford isn’t a Hall of Fame candidate. His individual accolades just don’t make a compelling argument. Just one Pro Bowl in 13 seasons coming in 2014. Yet a single Pro Bowl nod carries little historical relevance when going over the post mortem of a player’s career.
But, for a moment let’s consider what awards and votes are: recognition. It’s recognition for a player’s ability, but there are certain requirements that come with it. Winning is usually an integral qualifier, and rightfully so. But Stafford’s numbers are indicative of, supposedly, what would qualify as a Hall of Fame quarterback.
His 49,995 passing yards currently rank 12th all-time and 5th among all active quarterbacks (3rd once Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady are officially no longer NFL players). He’s thrown the 12th-most touchdown passes all-time (324) and has the fifth-most 4th quarter comebacks. That’s a quarterback who gives it his all – even if the wins don’t always reflect it.
Stafford’s numbers are impacted by the era he’s in, but there should be no doubt about his overall talent. Now that Stafford is with the Rams, surrounded by the best roster he’s ever been a part of, he’s reached another level of play. He completed a career-high 67.2 percent of his passes while throwing for 4886 yards, tying his career-high in touchdown passes (41), and helped the Rams to a 12-5 regular season record.
Winning a Super Bowl could very well change the trajectory of Stafford’s legacy. He would have the most coveted accolade while having all of the impressive numbers to back it up. It wouldn’t make him a Hall of Fame lock – and it might not be enough to even start a conversation, depending on who you speak to, but it’ll definitely change the way Stafford is viewed. It won’t make his years without playoff success in Detroit moot. But suddenly, Stafford has the ring that Philip Rivers could never get. His resume would look far more impressive than the likes of Eli Manning, Cam Newton and Matt Ryan at the end of his career too. And all three quarterbacks have had great careers.
One Super Bowl ring doesn’t make you an all-time great. In fact some of the greats never managed to earn a Super Bowl victory. There are so many variables at play when it comes to discussing legacies, but should Stafford and the Rams emerge victorious on Sunday, we’ll begin to look at his career in a completely different light.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @thomasvalenfine