Matthew Stafford Reflects on Not Playing Football on Thanksgiving Anymore

Since moving to Southern California in 2021, Matthew Stafford, the quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, has experienced numerous changes.

From adapting to the warmer climate and navigating the busy traffic, to getting accustomed to his new team, Stafford’s transition has been significant. However, another notable change for him has been his Thanksgiving routine. Unlike his time with the Detroit Lions, where playing on Thanksgiving was an annual event, Stafford now spends the holiday at home.

The Detroit Lions, along with the Dallas Cowboys, are known for their traditional Thanksgiving Day games in the NFL. So, how does Stafford feel about this shift from his usual holiday game routine? Recently, he shared his thoughts with the L.A. media regarding not playing football on Thanksgiving, a tradition he had become accustomed to during his years with the Lions.

“I loved it. I love playing in that game,” Stafford explained.

He then shared what he loved the most about playing on Thanksgiving.

“I love playing the early game, especially always at home,” Stafford added. “It’s a pretty good gig. Go play the game and come home, have Thanksgiving dinner like everybody else pretty much at 5:30 or 6:00 and watch whatever game is on at that point.”

The other aspect he loved was the rest.

“Then you’ve got the rest of the weekend off so you don’t have to watch what you eat, kind of have a good time with it,” Stafford said. “Last couple years, obviously little different stories so got to kind of pace yourself on Thursday and make sure you don’t go too crazy knowing you’ve got a game on Sunday.”

He hasn’t played on Thanksgiving since 2020 in his transition to the Rams.

“It’s something I miss for sure and just that tradition is a really cool one,” Stafford noted. “It’s something that the city of Detroit and in Dallas obviously but grew up watching that game as a Cowboy fan, played in it in Detroit for a bunch of years.”