Matthew Stafford facing major issue with Rams' young roster as team looks to quash Super Bowl hangover
Matthew Stafford is one of the veteran quarterbacks in the league right now and is a Super Bowl winner with the Los Angeles Rams. He is looking to come back this season and revitalize the team after their historically bad championship defense last season.
But he is running into the issues that faces the current generation more than any other: their relationship with phones. On the podcast, 'The Morning After with Kelly Stafford', his wife revealed how her husband was struggling to connect.
Kelly Stafford highlights Rams QB's intergenerational struggle
She highlighted how the relationship between players used to be earlier. She said,
“So Matthew’s been in the league a long time. He’s like ‘The difference in the locker room has changed so significantly.’ They have a lot of rookies on their team, they’re very young. But he’s like ‘I feel like I can’t connect'. In the old days you’d come out of practice, you’d shower, and people would be playing cards, interacting... Playing ping pong, they have a tournament going on. They’d at least be talking."
Now, it seems that Matthew Stafford's fellow players go straight to their phones after practice. The Super Bowl winner has to apparently battle the urge to take their phones away as he does not want to be seen as a stand-in coach or a paternal figure.
"But now they get out of practice, and meetings during training camp, and they go straight to their phones. No one looks up from their phones. Matthew’s like ‘I don’t know... Am I the dad? Do I take their phones? What do I do here?’ He’s like ‘I want them to see me not as a coach’."
Matthew Stafford takes help of a literal Face-book
To overcome the situation, his wife revealed that Matthew Stafford has had a book printed out with all the players' faces so he can know their names and open a conversation from his side.
"He said it’s so different and so hard to get to know these guys. He had a book printed out. He had the equipment guy get a book printed of all their faces, and all their names, cause he’s like ‘I need to know their names. So then know I know them and maybe we should get to know each other so there’s chemistry on the field’."
The whole situation is bizarre, funny and sad in equal measure. Matthew Stafford and other senior players would hope, however, that it does not have any bearing on their season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.