Matthew Stafford accomplishes rare NFL feat with NFC title game appearance
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has waited a long time to win on the NFL. The Detroit Lions selected the former Georgia man with the top pick in the 2009 NFL draft and Stafford was with the franchise for 12 seasons, winning zero playoff games.
On Sunday, Stafford led the Rams past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making the NFC Championship for the first time in his career. The quarterback connected with Cooper Kupp late in the game, setting up the game-winning field goal.
Stafford made another piece of history on Sunday, being just the second quarterback to make an NFL conference championship game after being the No. 1 quarterback in their high school recruiting class. Mark Sanchez, who appeared in two AFC Championships with the New York Jets, is the other.
Stafford represents the state of Texas, while Sanchez comes out of Califronia. The two states are considered to be at the top when it comes to producing high school talent with this stat further proving the point.
Coming out of Highland Park High School in Dallas, TX, Stafford threw for 4,108 yards and 38 touchdowns during his senior season. He won the state championship in 2005 and was nationally recruited. Georgia ended up being the answer under head coach Mark Richt.
Sanchez, on the other hand, followed the path many other elite California quarterbacks did. He enrolled at USC and was a part of the latter stages of the Pete Carrol era in Los Angeles. The former five-star came out of Mission Viejo High School and won the California Interscholastic Federation Division II championship in 2004.
Now, on top of sharing the title of top quarterback in their respective recruiting classes, Stafford and Sanchez have their own little fraternity with conference championship appearances.
Matthew Stafford, Rams set to face NFC West opponent in title game
Making the NFC Championship game is historic for Stafford but his mind will be on making it one step further to the Super Bowl. He will have to get past the San Francisco 49ers, a team Los Angeles has not beaten since the 2018 regular season.
The two faced off in the regular-season finale, providing an entertaining overtime matchup. For some reason, it seems as if 49ers head coach Kyle Shannanan has a number over Rams head coach Sean McVay. After battling it out in NFC West matchups, a lot more than a divisional win will be on the line come Sunday.