Is Matthew Stafford a Hall of Famer?

Depending on who you talk to some folks weigh hall of fame status to an extremely high regard and rightfully so because the Hall of Fame should be reserved for the best of the best of each sport. The hard part any Hall of Fame voter has is the game is always changing. However, should they really compare current players to older players to judge their Hall of Fame status? My belief is that a Hall of Famer is one of the best players of their generation and past players should have no merit on if they get it or not. So with that being said, with Stafford’s recent Super Bowl win make him a Hall of Famer?

Like I said previously, Hall of Fame status should be deemed by a player being one of the best players of his generation. Yes, Stafford pretty much wasted his career in Detroit and Lions fans unfairly blamed him for their lack of success but one season removed from the Lions he showed not only Lions fans but NFL fans what he can do with a proper team around him. So with that being said, if Stafford retired today, will he be a Hall of Famer or even a first ballot Hall of Famer?  Well if he retired today he would go on the ballot with Big Ben and Brady. It has been widely accepted that both are first ballot Hall of Famers. Both their individual stats as well as their teams’ success should open the doors to Canton and both should just walk right in. BUT…in my mind, I would put Stafford in over Ben. If you put Stafford on the Steelers he wins just as many Super Bowls as Ben if not more. In Ben’s first Super Bowl he was not the reason they won…he just didn’t lose it. Yes, Ben went on to have a stellar career and he is a worthy Hall of Famer. I don’t think we need to talk about Brady…I think it is safe to say that the best quarterback in history is a slam dunk Hall of Famer.  But when it comes to Ben Vs Stafford is concerned, how much do you weigh two Super Bowl wins compared to one? Yes, Ben has better stats but is also 6 years older. But if you invoke the eye test, Stafford is a much better passer in my opinion than Ben.

Yes, you can go down the rabbit hole about where Stafford fits in historically. But is that really doing this generation’s players a service? This NFL is a more pass-oriented league even compared to the NFL 5 years ago. That is why you have to compare players to their peers and not those that came before them. If I am a Hall of Fame voter, Stafford would get my vote on the first ballot hands down. If you are on the fence, just wait, because as of writing this he is not retiring today. He still has an amazing team around him and on top of that a good organization behind him so his success is going to be continued until he does decide to hang them up.  

*****

  Don’t forget, if you want more content like this check out the podcast and YouTube channel. Search The Turbo and 2ks show wherever you get your podcast content or go to www.youtube.com/turboand2ks to watch the livestreams every Sunday afternoon at 1pm.