Fifteen minutes into my day, I knew Matt and Kelly Stafford were going to be part of today’s blog. First thing this morning, I opened up an email from by good friend Dan Jeffrey, Sr. with a subject line of “Stafford family is a SUPER ORCHID”. The email contained the following exerpt from Bleacher Report quoting Matt Stafford in a conversation with Mitch Albom. Here is the excerpt.
“I mean, this past year was bad,” he admits. “I had the partially torn UCL in my right thumb. I tore my UCL on my left elbow on the second to last play of the Houston game that nobody knew about, trying to stiff arm a guy. That’s why I started wearing a sleeve on my left arm because I had all sorts of tape underneath it, just to hold it in place. “I broke my cartilage on my eighth rib in Green Bay. I also tore something (in the back of) my left knee. And then I had a subtalar, right ankle sprain. ”He said he never spoke of those or other injuries, not only in deference to his fellow players who had injuries of their own, but to the city of Detroit, where he knew people were dealing with much tougher challenges than trying to play a game with a multimillion dollar contract.“For them it’s not injuries on their hands and ankles and ribs, it’s ‘Where am I going to get the money to pay the mortgage? And how am I going to get my car from here to there?’”
I responded to the email by saying the Staffords were going to be my quote of the day as well as getting the orchid of the day. This was before I learned of their $1,000,000 donation to build an education center as part of Mitch Albom’s Say Detroit charity. (In 2015 the Staffords donated $1,000,000 to Say Detroit to build an artificial football field for kids to pay on.) After reading about the donation I decided to dedicate today’s entire blog to the Staffords.
In my life time their are many professional athletes who were not only great athletes for our professional sports teams, they were also people who embraced the community and the spirit of Detroit sports fans and willingly gave back to the community. These are people who come to mind. For the Tigers, Al Kaline, Sparky Anderson, Willie Horton and Dan Petry. For the Pistons, Dave Bing, Ray Scott, Rick Mahorn, and Joe Dumars. For the Red Wings Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsey, Mickey Redmond, Kris Draper and Steve Yzerman. For the Lions Chris Speilman, Herman Moore, Charlie Sanders and Lem Barney. From U of M, Jalen Rose and from MSU Steve Smith. Matthew Stafford and his wife Kelly have to be added to the list. They have only been with us 12 short years. They didn’t win any championships, hell they didn’t even win a playoff game. What they did do was embrace our community. They game to us as a 21year old and 19 year old before they were married. They got married, survived a major health scare, had four beautiful kids, embraced a community and gave the Lions and the community everything they had to give, all before the age of 35. In the meantime, they have donated millions to the community and given endless amounts of time and support.
Here is Kelly’s thank you to Detroit as posted on Instagram today.
“There are not enough words to truly express how grateful we are to have lived here for the past 12 years. We came here for football, but we are leaving with a sense of home and endearment. Endearment not only for this city and the Lions organization, but a love for the people who make up this community. Detroit has supported our family not only by showing up on Sundays, but also through our most difficult times. You took us in as your own and made Detroit feel like home and that is what it became, our home.
It has been our goal to always give back to the city. Detroit and its people have blessed us in so many ways, we only hope you have felt our gratitude through our joy of giving back to the city. As we sat down and tried to figure out how to thank you one last time, we felt like words were not sufficient. And so, we have teamed up with Mitch Albom to create an education center that will be attached to the SAY PLAY Center where Stafford Field is also located. The new building will enable the Center to increase its student population who benefit from the center’s academic, athletic and arts programs, and service adults with job training programs, GED classes, and community events. This is the legacy we want to leave behind. We would love for you to be a part of it with us..to be a part of this legacy of making a positive impact in so many Detroiters’ lives. If you would like to get involved, I have placed a link in my bio and in my story so that you will be able to do so. Think of the difference we could make together for the thousands of people in city of Detroit.
You will always remember Matthew Stafford as a Detroit Lions quarterback, but our hope is that you will also remember our family for our love of the Detroit community and its people”.
Thank you Detroit, for everything.
Stay safe. Wear your mask. Social distance. Wash your hands regularly. Schedule your vaccine.
Quote of the Day: See above from Kelly Stafford
Orchid of the Day: The Staffords for all they have done and all they have given to us prior to reaching the age of 35.
Onion of the Day: No onions today. In honor of Matt and Kelly Stafford, I will not throw someone under the bus.