John Matthew Stafford is an American professional football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, receiving first-team All-American honors in 2008, and was selected first overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL draft. Ranking in the top 10 of all time in pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns, Stafford is currently sixth all time in passing yards per game and the fastest player in NFL history to have reached 40,000 career passing yards.
As the Lions' primary starter from 2009 to 2020, Stafford had a breakout year in 2011 when he became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 5,000 yards in a single season, while also leading Detroit to their first playoff appearance since 1999. He helped the Lions reach the playoffs two more times in 2014 and 2016, earning Pro Bowl honors during the former and setting the NFL season record for comeback wins in the latter. After mutually agreeing to part ways with the Lions, Stafford was traded to the Rams in 2021 and led them to victory in Super Bowl LVI.