Matthew Stafford has been in the NFL since being drafted in 2009 and was once part of the Detroit Lions, who routinely played on Thanksgiving. However, he didn’t have the best results while playing on holiday and Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow pressed where it hurts ahead of his own Turkey Day return against the Baltimore Ravens this week.
While talking to reporters ahead of his Thanksgiving game, Burrow went down memory lane and shared what it was like to watch Stafford and the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
“I think, just like a lot of kids, you grow up going through Thanksgiving, you have your meals with your family, and then you go sit on the couch. Typically, there’s not a lot on, except football,” Burrow said. “Back in the day, it was Lions and somebody, you go watch Matthew Stafford throw for 300, 400-something yards with Calvin Johnson and probably lose the game. But it was fun to watch. Those are memories you have, so I always kind of wanted to be the person out there.”
Stafford’s wife, Kelly, reposted this interview of Burrow on her Instagram stories and added why she doesn’t like Thanksgiving over Christmas as her favorite holiday.
“Part of the reason Christmas continued to be my favorite holiday”
It’s hard to blame Kelly here, though, as Stafford has an embarrassing record on Thanksgiving.
Matthew Stafford’s Record In Thanksgiving Games
Matthew Stafford had to wait five years after he arrived in the NFL to register his first victory on Thanksgiving Day. Among the early losses was a double overtime defeat against the Houston Texans, which is probably the game Joe Burrow was referring to as it saw both Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford post incredible stats but in vain. In that particular game, Stafford passed for 441 yards and two touchdowns, while Johnson had 140 yards and one touchdown.
Stafford started to win on Thanksgiving, winning four consecutive times from 2013 to 2016. But once again, the losses took over, as he finished his Lions tenure with three more losses on this particular holiday.
Overall, Stafford has a 4-6 record on Thanksgiving Day while representing the Lions as the starting quarterback. Notably, after being traded to the Rams in 2020, Stafford has yet to play a game on Thanksgiving.
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