Laura Rutledge wades into Matt Stafford Hall of Fame debate

On3 imageby:Simon Gibbs02/17/22

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Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford still has a lot to prove in his NFL career, but the Georgia product managed to check off a huge item from his bucket list last weekend, winning a Super Bowl ring in his first season with a new franchise.

Stafford, 34, still has some time left in his NFL career, assuming he doesn’t plan to hang up the cleats too early. And the former first-overall pick has quite an NFL resume — even before winning a Super Bowl.

Since his NFL debut in 2009, Stafford was named to a Pro Bowl, won NFL Comeback Player of the Year and statistically speaking, has been a very solid quarterback. He’s thrown for 49,995 yards in his NFL career, along with 323 touchdown and 161 interceptions. Now, he has a Super Bowl ring to add to that resume.

But many people are still unsure as to whether Stafford deserves Hall of Fame consideration, giving way to a heated debate on sports television the last several days.

ESPN host Laura Rutledge, who previously covered the SEC, recently chimed in on the former Georgia Bulldogs star, and she said on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning that Stafford has been very impressive throughout his career. However, fans have to wait and see what’s next in Stafford’s career before making any Hall of Fame declarations.

“I think it should be somewhere in the middle when you talk about Stafford. The reality is, we all know, you can’t control where you’re drafted. No one was paying attention to some of the things he was doing in Detroit. He’s a guy that we know was putting up the numbers but wasn’t playing in meaningful games,” Rutledge said. “So, to look at what he did this year to make the gamble or however you want to put it — he bet on himself and went to LA to be surrounded by really good players, and you can still do all of that stuff and then it doesn’t work out. So, I do think there’s something to be said about executing in the biggest moments, and then getting there, even with some lolls this season. There were some times when we said, ‘man, this team is not going to be a threat at all to win the Super Bowl.’

“I think when you look at that part of it, it is a one season situation. But it is worth of, I believe, a lot of praise. Hall of Fame? I don’t know yet. But let’s see what he does in the next few years.”

ESPN analyst: Matthew Stafford has not clinched place in Canton just yet

Now that Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has a Super Bowl under his belt, many have penciled in as a Hall of Fame quarterback once his career comes to an end. But that talk is premature to ESPN analyst Mina Kimes. While Kimes believes that Stafford can still play his way into Hall of Fame worthiness, she doesn’t believe that he is quite there yet.

NFL cornerback Richard Sherman also recently chimed in on the Hall of Fame debate with Stafford. Stafford believes that the bar to make it to the Hall of Fame has been set incredibly low, and Kimes alluded to his thoughts when addressing Stafford’s candidacy at this point in his playing career.

“I do not,” Kimes said when asked if she thinks Stafford is a Hall of Famer. “Right now I do not. I agree with (Richard) Sherman. Matthew Stafford just had a hell of a postseason, hell of a season and deserves a ton of credit for proving his critics wrong. But I think we’ve gotta pump the brakes a little going right from the Super Bowl to Canton. My opinion is that the Hall of Fame, the bar that Sherman refers to, is a player should be the best, or among the best, at his position, ideally for some period of time.

“Matthew Stafford’s played 12 seasons in the NFL. In those 12 seasons he’s been in one Pro Bowl, never been an All-Pro, he has finished top five in passer rating once, and top five in touchdowns three times. Now the case for him getting in at this point is this incredible postseason run, and all of the counting stats. The fact that he ranks so high in career yards and touchdowns.”