Green Light with Chris Long - Matthew Stafford on Myles Garrett's Impact, Aaron Donald & Ty Simpson's Future

Episode Date: June 23, 2026

Matthew Stafford, the sheriff of the LA Rams, joins Chris and dives deep into his career, playing as an elder statesman, teaming with Sean McVay, winning the Super Bowl in 2022 and being a youth football coach. Stafford also covers his excitement of Myles Garrett joining the LA Rams, being a mentor to rookie Ty Simpson and he tells an incredible Aaron Donald story. (00:00) - Intro (01:27) - Matthew Stafford's Career Longevity (11:27) - Flag Football Coach (13:55) - NFC West Rivalries (18:55) - Playoff Game Atmospheres (22:58) - 2026 Rams Playoff Run (29:52) - Toughest DLines (31:32) - Aaron Donald's Dominance (33:00) - Myles Garrett in LA (35:10) - Connection with Davante Adams (37:50) - Mentoring Ty Simpson (39:00) - Dan Orlovsky & Kellen Moore (39:55) - Matthew Stafford's Best Throw Ever (40:45) - Dylan Raiola Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline presented by Zone Nicotine and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open: ‪[phone]‬ With the return of the Layup Line, make sure to check out the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=YP1-ffQ3T_yUDRnJRhDtOw Check out Green Light's ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where you can catch all the latest GL action: Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know, I think one of the things that surprised me was I was talking to Drew. He was like, how old are you again? I was like, I'm 37. He was like, you might have your best five years of your career coming up, you know? And I was like, huh. Drew's saying that kind of lit a fire under me and, you know, gives you a little bit of belief that maybe an old guy can still go out there and spin it around a little bit. Excited to have Miles, really good football player.

And excited for, you know, what's to come. We just got to continue to work and get after each other a little bit in practice and see if we can make each other better. That was a game I'll never forget. I was standing there and Jim Bob Cooter was the coordinator, quarterback coach at that point or something. And Aaron just gets through the line and rips the ball off me. Takes both my biceps and pulls them apart.

And I'm like, I got two hands on it, right? So I'm like, I'm doing quote unquote my job, right? I'm like, oh. And I come over the sign line. I'm like, I got two hands. I don't know what to do. He's like, got to find a way to hold on to it. I'm like, get the fuck out of that, dude.

This shit is like, he is so strong. You know, it's the ultimate coach. Just like, got to figure. out of way. I'm like, there ain't no way. Well, my guest needs no introduction. I'll give you a short one. He's entering year 18. He's a league MVP. And he is one of the best throwers of the football on the planet. His name is Matthew Stafford. And he is joining Greenlight. What's up, man? How are you? I'm doing good, man. How are you? Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

Oh, thanks for coming on. This is awesome. I was just saying, I don't think we've ever met, but it was a lot of fun. I played against you briefly. And then I felt like you've got two, you've stack two careers, man. Does it kind of feel like two careers for you? It does. First of all, it's long enough to be two for sure. And then splitting, you know, 12 in Detroit. And this will be six coming up in L.A. And to be honestly, I remember, you know, when I was getting traded to L.A., just having those initial conversations with Sean. And it was like, you know, I don't know. I think maybe three or three or four max left feels right, you know, get somewhere in that 15 to 16 range and then now it's like i don't know maybe i'll just keep rolling my girls love watching me play

and and uh might as well dude that's amazing i it's crazy because you're oh nine is your rookie mine's oh eight and and um looking back a bit you look younger now than you didn't oh nine dude is that you know what i'm saying like we had it rough in the late odds dude the fashion was rough we were drinking a lot of beer yeah i think of beer a bunch of giant suits at the draft the million buttons. It was not a good look. No, dude. A little touch of gray, but you're looking young, dude. And I wonder, I wonder for you, like, you know, you talked about not being sure how long you want to go. And, you know, I don't know if it's a year-to-year thing for you, but have you ever talked

to, like, Brady about this very thing, like playing into your 40s possibly? Because right now it looks like you play well into your 40s. Yeah, I've talked to him a little bit. I've talked to Drew Breeze a little bit about it as well. Yeah, I don't know. I don't, it is year to year because I think it's fair to the team. I think it's fair to me. My family, like, I don't want to sit there and say, okay, you know, 24 months from now, I got to be ready to play another football season. I'm like, whew, that just seems like a lot. I know that I'm ready to play this year, and hopefully I feel great at the end of the next year, and I'm ready to play another one after that, and then maybe we just kind of keep going like that. But committing to more than that

feels a little bit daunting, and I think a little bit unfair to the team and myself. So the last thing I want to do is sign some five-year extension, and after one year, be like, oh, man, I'm ready to retire. I want to spend time with my family, and they're sitting there with four years on the books, and, you know, I had a bunch of planning done that I was going to be around, and I don't want to play football, not all the way in it, too, right, and just be kind of half-ass leading it. So it's been great. Les and his group and Sean and all them have been awesome to me, Mr. Cronki, about letting me kind of go year to year,

while, you know, building in things for the years to come so we don't have to sit there and, you know, negotiate after every offseason. But yeah, I don't know. I don't know how far I want to play. I know I'm excited about playing this year, and then, you know, we'll see after that. Yeah, and I'm certainly not trying to pry and get you to pin down a certain amount of years, but was there anything that Brady or Breeze told you that you found? a lot of value in even as a 38-year-old. Yeah, you know, I think I spent some time talking to both those guys last off-season, ran into Brady a little bit, this off-season as well, and just kind of, you know, talk to

him a little bit. But, you know, I think one of the things that surprised me was I was talking to Drew. This was before last season. And he was like, how old are you again? I was like, I'm 37. And he was like, you might have your best five years of your career coming up, you know? And I was like, huh, you know, I never really thought about it that way. you're taught as a player in this league.

It's a young man's game, and the older you get, you're just kind of doing everything you can to try to stay up to par with everybody else. And, you know, Drew's saying that kind of lit a fire under me, and it gives you a little bit of belief that maybe an old guy can still go out there and spin it around a little bit. And obviously, last year was a successful year for our team and for myself, and, you know, just gives you a little bit of energy moving forward and hope that that continues.

Do you ever look back at the way you trained in 2009, or 2010, not taking anything away from probably you had some great strength coaches and that sort of thing. But things have just changed. I feel like now talking to guys, like having buddies in the league, watching Lane Johnson train, guys like that. And I'm like, we have, they have so much information at their fingertips that we just didn't have in that era of football. When did you start to see the change where you're like, okay, I'm doing rehab 301? I'm doing, I'm doing preparation 301.

my weight room stuff smarter. Is there that much of a difference for a quarterback between year one and year 18? Yeah, for me especially. I mean, like you said, we came in very similar years. I mean, I remember hang clinging and front squatting and doing all sorts of like just throwing on the straps on the wrist in the NFL and just seeing how much weight I could yank up to the front of my neck. And I'm like, what in the hell was I doing?

You know, I was proud of the number. Yeah, what was your power claim? I don't remember. I think I was throwing around 250, 265. A couple blues. You know, like for a quarterback, not a bad number. And I'm like, man, looking back on that, I'm like, I would fold under that right now. So I think between that, how we train, how we treat ourselves, but also there's no question that like the rules of the game have helped, you know, I think elongate people's careers, which I think is awesome, right?

you know, whether you're a receiver going over the middle and you're not getting, you know, your head knocked off as often as you used to or a quarterback, the biggest thing for me was the way guys used to just land on you, you know, just pick you up and I'd be just helpless going, here we go, let's see if we get in, you know, get up from this one and drop all their weight on you. So I think that more than anything, more than like the targets or any, you know, where you can hit us where you can't, but just the ability to, the inability now to drop all weight on us has kept, you know, I know me and a lot of guys healthier for longer. Yeah, but it made for a great story at the end of that Browns game back in the day.

I'm sure it was a hell of a lot of fun for you guys to hear us go, we owe it your dude. And that's the one thing I'm sitting here like, yeah, for you it's great. They changed everyone. But there was nothing more fun than the suplex, dude. I'm sure, dude. You pick up some 210-pound guy and just drop him on his neck. Like, what's better than that?

Nothing, especially because y'all are getting the damn ball out. So once we get there, we've got to make it count. But how do you train, like, as a quarterback? Because I never talked to guys about this. Is it, you know, because it is a ground force type thing I've heard described as throwing the ball. It's your legs. Do you train differently lower body than upper body? There's things you kind of stay away from so that you can get the torque but not get too tight and stiff.

Yeah, I think so. I think I would imagine, now I don't play pro golf. but I imagine it's, you know, a version of like a football player, but you have to incorporate golf type things, right? It's weight transfer. We're such rotational athletes. So much of the stuff that we do is rotating. I imagine pitchers train a lot like we pitch.

And I think that's been a cool evolution too, whereas, like, I used to just hop in with the big skills. And like, whatever the big skill was doing, I was doing, you know, and running and lifting with those guys and launching med balls over my head and running until you threw up. And I'm like, what? This is not conducive to anything I do in my job, but I'm here for the boys. And so it was, it's morphed a little bit.

I would say kind of five, six years ago is when I started really training and moving in that direction to a couple of injuries along the way that kind of limit you with what you can load on your back or do some of those things. That obviously expedites that process. But I do think it's important, you know, for quarterbacks, you know, work in the rotational aspect of it, upper body and lower body and how all that coordinates is such a problem. big part of, you know, our job. And why wouldn't you sit there and work that in the, in the weight room as well? I got to know as a guy and, you know, this isn't like, as a guy with

back problems personally, long torso guy, always have back problems. Yeah. When your back's bad, like when it's been bad, at some point in your career, the worst it's been, is it like, because I think people will find some common ground with you as like, because regular people have back problems. Is it like you can't get out of bed for a day? You know, I've had to sit in the bathtub for hours until I can, you know, my legs are just not, they're not working. Yeah, I've had, I've had, you know, a few things go on with my back. I think in 2019, I broke T4, T5, vertebrae, compression fracture on a run. And so that was like this whole different deal, like top of the spine, locked up kind of deal. It's scary because,

spinal cords in that area. And then the most recent stuff has really just been the lower back. And yeah, I mean, it's the deal where like when it's really bad, it's the nerve pain shooting down the legs and just completely locked up. And it's debilitating, but it's demoralizing, right? Like, you sit there and you're like, yeah, this sucks. I can't move. But also you're like, when's it going to go away and how do I make it go away? And then, man, it just, it bums me out, you know? And I know it does to a lot of people out there to where you're just like, man, I wish I wouldn't have to deal with this. And you end up training, living your life, doing so many things to avoid those times. I mean, I just, I know how I'm sitting right now with a pillow

behind my back, right? Like, it's just, it's nonstop. I'm telling you. Because if you don't, it's, you never know. And so it's like, it's a, it's a full time deal. And then trying to play a pro sport with it is its own little interesting beast. But I do, I do feel good at the moment. and love getting to play still. Well, it's perfect. You got that mattress bag, dude. They gave you the mattress bag, and you got your own personalized side of the bed.

I'm watching the commercials. I'm like, I need one of those, bro. Yes, 100%. Anything I can. Anything I can do. Speaking of, you know, like transition from a tough topic to an easy one. You're coaching flag football. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I've heard about this. Whitworth told me you're pretty serious coach. Is it unfair to the other poor fucking coaches in the league? that you're bringing the McVay tree to flag football? We're just running mid-zone until the cows come home. No, there's, no, listen, I've got six girls, four boys on the team. I'm lucky I got Jimmy Closson's son as a quarterback, so he's spinning the rock, which helps. But no, I mean, I'm having so much fun out there.

I'm just trying to teach him fundamentals of the game, go have fun. I have this little, you know, dry race board. I draw up a play every single play because we're not going to study plays. Nobody's going home to figure out what they're going to do. So I just say, all right, who's in the huddle? And they go, oh, Chandler. I go, okay, Chandler, you're here, you run that. Sawyer, you run that.

And then draw up a play. They run it. It doesn't look anything like I drew it up. And we scored touchdown. I feel great. But for the most part, everybody's super chill. Like, I'm like, hey, let the defense get lined up. They're like, let your guys get lined up.

Let's do the whole thing. And then we ran into one team, and their coach was tempoing us with wristbands. And I'm like, oh, we're trying to sub. And he's like, go, go, go, go, go. And so he's, he's calling out the plays, right? He's like, it's play 12, play 22. And I'm just taking note, right? Second half comes around.

Play 12, I'm like, you want a tempo? I say, hey, it's a run to the right, girls. And it's just, when you think it out, play 22. I'm like, run to the left. And he's looking at me. And I'm like, you want to play tempo? Like, I'm going to help my guys out, too. You know what I mean?

So for the most part, it's pretty chill. But every once in a while you run into somebody trying to get aggressive. in a YMCA, you know, flag football seven-on-seven co-ed situation. What's the name of the team? What's the name of the team? God, I think we were the Tigers this year, to be honest with you. I don't even know. And then... So you don't show up in full uniform, you know. No, coach. This is not kicking and screaming. I am not there.

We don't have a juice box guy. But, you know, there's some interesting things with you sports that, you know, like chanting the other team's name after you play them and stuff, like saying good job. I'm not sure we partake in that very often. We'll high five all day because I think that's what you should do, right? You handshake, you go through the line, you keep it moving. There are a couple times where, you know, everybody's chanting each other's team's name. That might be a West Coast thing.

They're not doing that. I'm like, I'm not down for that. They're not doing that for Georgia either. I agree. I agree. That's blasphemy. So one thing I found, you know, I always find so interesting is, you know, you come from Detroit and you join the NFC West, and you guys have done a great job there, but there's a lot of great teams in the NFC West.

and you've had these rivalries and these teams that you play three times a year. And I think that's a unique deal for a lot of programs to consider, especially playing a team of like Seattle's caliber last year, a defense of Seattle's caliber. And we at home and in the media, and us knuckle-draggers that play D-Line,

we don't know what it's like in that big room where you guys are scheming things up, you and McVeigh and the guys. So like, I'm kind of wondering, is it a myth that you'll withhold concepts for that rubber match? Or is that kind of the way it is? Is there a chess match that goes on in game two?

Are you careful and, you know, are you planning ahead for the rubber match? Yeah, I don't think we do that. I do think you learn from game to game. The way we played those guys, just speaking Seattle specifically last season. The way we played them, the first time we played them, to the second time we played them, to the third time, it changed. And there were things that we liked that we did.

and things that we didn't like, you know, and maybe, you know, you learn to deal with, you know, how the environment's going to be in Seattle and how you're going to, you know, mix the snap counter, how you're going to go out there and use motion and all those things. So we were always learning and tweaking. You know, in 21, we played Arizona and San Fran three times that year. And what they did to us, you know, in the playoff game, especially I remember Arizona, you know, had a different like third down blitz package where they were showing man and dropping to 3D3 and doing all these things.

And so they definitely tried to change it up on us. And then there are the certain teams, and Seattle's a little bit one of them, and San Fran as well. When you have great players, it's not ultra-tricky, right? Like maybe when you call certain things changes for them, but what you're calling isn't drastically different. They line up and let their guys play and go and play well. And that's similar to what Sam Fran does.

I mean, Fred in the middle is he erases so many problems for them, his ability to, you know, recognize and move and play both run and pass. So, you know, it's a chess match for sure. We're not withholding because, as you know in the NFL, if you're acting like, oh, we got this one in the bag because we're going to have one later, you're in the wrong. You've got to go out and try to win them all. And then the next time you play them, okay, what did we do last time? What worked?

What are they playing? You know, what are they practicing? Okay, let's find a counter off of that and try to make something happen. Is Fred Warner the best defensive player that you've played in division? in the West. Yeah, I mean, definitely the best, like, off ball player. There's some really good, you know, defense of linemen. You know what I mean?

Like, defense of linemen. Yeah, like, yeah, he's so intelligent. He's instinctually moves great. You know, he's a physical presence in the run game. He's great in the past game. I feel like I drop back to pass and, you know, I end up, you know, seeing where he's at probably more than anybody, just trying to, you know, figure out where he's going to be.

And there are times in coverage where you go back and watch it. And I go, man, you know, I know he's probably supposed to be relating to three there. And he's just not because he's feeling something else or he's playing off my eyes or whatever it is. So there's a, he's in a really great instinctual player that I got a ton of respect for. You got to be careful, no looking him, huh? Yeah, 100%. I don't know if he'd bite the cheese. I don't think so.

I think y'all's vision is kind of, yeah, there's a head-to-head going on there. You play, you know, having played up in Seattle now for a long time, would you say that, where would you stack it as far as a, an atmosphere that you play on the road. It's as good as it gets. I mean, there's a few in there. New Orleans come to mind. I mean, I spent some time playing a couple big games, playoff games in New Orleans when I was in Detroit.

That's a great atmosphere. But yeah, I mean, I think Seattle, and along with, you know, just how good their football team was last year and how good we were, you know, those games were, you know, big time games to go watch. And I felt like there were fireworks on both sides of the ball. And, man, would it get loud and crazy? And we were out there and nothing like silent.

in them with a big player a touchdown and then shoot they'd answer right back and score a touchdown and the place would be going crazy so as long as the weather's good out there i love playing out there yeah the weather does turn a little bit in december was that for your first playoff game that was new orleans yeah in new Orleans in new Orleans 2011 I was on bourbon street there were I was drinking with lions fans too because I love that I'll never forget that I was pulling for y'all what's the difference between like you know the mental space you're in at what 26 years old or whatever that is. Yeah.

Walking into your first playoff game in New Orleans. And now having played in probably over 10 or close to 10 just in your new home. Yeah. Yeah, I was 23. And I came in the league at 21, 21, 22, 20. I was 23. It was my third year. And, man, I was, there was a lot going on.

I was going up against Drew Brees, right? So that was just like, oh, man, what am I have to do to try to win this game? We actually started the game well, played, had the lead at halftime, and then I think they came and scored like 35 unanswered and blew the doors off. But no, it's a lot, right? I think I, you're always, you know, you know making the dance, man, making the playoffs like you're so hopeful. You never know.

It's like, oh, man, there's a new juice that comes alive. It's like, man, we're only a few games away from doing what we've always wanted to do. But at the same time, after we lost that game, I just used it as experience to learn. Unfortunately, we didn't get back there enough when I was in Detroit. You know, only two other trips and had a time. self-loss in Dallas and another one in Seattle. But, you know, that was all learning experiences, things that I've taken from. Like, we started that game great, right?

And I felt like at a certain point, I probably had to keep up with Drew. And I think I threw one or two second half picks trying to get us back in the game that, like, if I just don't do those, maybe it, you know, trust the other side of the ball, trust the, you know, whatever it is. Maybe we keep ourselves in the game longer and I can do something, you know, really great late. And so those are all learning processes and parts of. of it. And since I've been here in LA, we've had a lot of success in the playoffs, and I've had a lot of

fun playing in them. And, you know, I guess maybe going back, I don't mean to backtrack, but the other environment that was crazy, but when I went back to Detroit, and they hosted their first playoff game there in however many years, that was electric. I mean, we ran out for pre-primps, and there weren't a seat in the house. I mean, people were just booing the hell out of me and screaming, but it was a fun place to play. So I thought that was the most physical. football game I'd seen all year. Yeah. There were a lot of...

Bodies were flying, dude. Yeah, it's, you know, and that's the way it gets, you know, in the playoff, you know, atmosphere. I think there's preseason, there's regular season, there's playoffs, and, and that, you know, that ratchet up. It happens, and I think it gets a little bit, like you said, it just gets more physical. People know what's at stake, and I think, you know, the referees, you know, kind of let us go play a little bit more and brand of football that you know i grew up playing and and you you grew up

playing too so it's not too unfamiliar um what hurts more seeing cooper cup and a seattle uniform every time you play him or going back to detroit and even if they love you they're booing you it's what what's more what's more jarring to matthew staffer dude they both suck to be honest with you but uh no i don't know i i'm honestly i'm really happy for cooper obviously uh you know love the guy, great player. You can see what he did to help that team be what they were this year. Still a fantastic player and happy for his success. And I like the organization in Detroit, the people there.

Now, wasn't fired up about – and listen, here's what I would say. I signed up to play football. Treat me however you want to treat me. Just don't treat my family like you treated my family. And that's the problem I had with it. They want to boo me because they're fired up about a game. That's fine. And I'm all for it.

But I don't know which one's more jarring. I kind of expected, you know, the booze when I went back to Detroit. I don't know that... There's no way to know what they're going to do. It's not like you can, like, hey, are they planning to boo me or not? Like, it's like, you show up and find out. Yeah. I know.

And then I guess when Cooper left, I didn't think I'd be seeing them twice a year in division, but, you know, happy for him and obviously happy for his success. Make this tournament one to remember with BetMGM's 2-Up early payout. Just place a pre-game match. result bet on any world's game match. And if your team goes up by two goals at any point, your bet is paid out as a win. That's right. You keep the winnings no matter what happens next. This offer is available every match. So be sure to get in on the action. And if you haven't signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code Greenlight, and you'll get up to a $1,500 new player offer on your

first wager. BetMGM, make it legendary. I want to talk about the playoffs, man. We've talked talking about playoff games and going into playoff games. I thought last year's run was so interesting because, you know, you played that Carolina team already. I think they surprised a lot of people last year. And the first game, I think a lot of people were saying, hey, maybe the Rams weren't prepared or whatever it was. They were a good football team, and they got a tough defense to crack.

But it ended up being kind of a shoot out there, especially late in that game. The question I'm curious about is, like, you go to Parkinson with a game online. And I thought it kind of illustrated this. trust you have in your tight end room. And obviously you guys kind of, you know, not pivot, but lean into the 13 personnel stuff last year. I mean, I remember in, I don't know when it started, but the Jacksonville game, you guys were in 13, like the whole damn game. Yeah. And you dominated. And I just wonder where that seed was planted internally. And then, you know, how it kind of bears fruit on the field and what you see, you know, the way it changes, the way off ball players play when you get those

big bodies on the field. And they can all catch the ball. Yeah. You know, we're really lucky. People are like, oh, man, you know, everybody's going to be in 13 next year because that's the way the league goes. And I'm like, well, they better have four guys that can all do everything. And that's what we have. We're so lucky in the room. You know, people talk about it as just the exes on the field, but it's like these guys are really talented players. They can block at the point of attack. They can, you know, catch the ball intermediate down the field, the whole thing. You know, and they're smart enough to go learn all these positions and do all these things, and that takes a lot. And so, yes, we, we did pivot because we probably had zero snaps of 13 personnel in training

camp last year. Puka gets hurt, and Tutsu gets hurt on maybe like the 10th play of the game. We've got like Devante, Canate, and I don't even know if Jay Witt was about, you know, we just didn't have that many receivers available at that point. And so it was like, okay, well, let's have a plan if something does happen here. And sure enough, we just kind of went into it. We liked the way, you know, it dictated the terms a little bit as far as, hey, you know, here's what we're going to get from their defense. And sometimes it was like, hey, we don't know what we're going to get.

We might get nickel. We might get, you know, penny. We might get base. You might get, you know, whatever you want to call it. But we had plans for all of that and how we wanted to go attack it as we move forward. You know, there's always a chess match going on in the NFL. I'm lucky to be playing for a coach that's ahead of the curve on a lot of that. And also, listen, like, boils down to it, like, flexible enough to do that.

You know, I mean, like, that takes some Cajonis to stand in there and go, you know what, guys, I've been in 11. Like, we would joke about how we were never in 12, never in 12, never in 12. We were always in 11. We were in 11. And it was like, hey, now we're just going to jump straight to 13. And so it takes a lot of buy-in, a lot of smarts from some guys. And it was a cool thing.

I'm happy to, you know, be a part of it. last year and it was it was a lot of fun and a big part of our success. And then going to that Carolina game, I mean, they're a tough defense, man. They're really good on the back end. You know, I think their backers play well. Their scheme is really, you know, a good scheme. And then, you know, they ran the ball great, controlled the clock, especially the first time we played them. I feel like we never touched the ball. Yeah. Yeah. They played it. And so, yeah, they're a tough out. And but Colby, hell of a play, a little double move and went up and made a big time catch. over a really good player in Morrig, who's, you know, I got a ton of respect to more too.

So it was a nice win, great way to cap one off and keep it moving. And that 13 stuff slows all the rushers down. I mean, it really does. I mean, it's not just how to fix the offball guys. Yeah, we're creating gaps, right? And so, like, these guys that are usually, you know, 10 feet from me are now 15 feet from me. And they don't know if we're running zone inside or if we're play action passing and throwing it down the field.

And so just a lot of things for people to think about. No question. You said it. we don't like thinking. So, yeah, snow games, man. You played in a couple of the last couple of years, man. You know, obviously Chicago weather was a little bit inclement last year, and then the Philly game was crazy.

He has battle back. And I think you had, you had Higby, if damn Jalen Carter. I hate to bring it up again, but J.R. Just a one in a million rush. You know, that's the fake game. Fake the T.E. And then just shoot the gap. So I guess my question is when you play in the snow, what changes for a quarterback?

I mean, like we try to assign significance to, you know, hey, snow being on the field, what it might do to the rushers, what it might do to the receivers. What is it really actually due to the passing game? Yeah, I think, you know, obviously you've played in them before too. Like every snow game is a little bit different. What kind of snow? I know this is like we're getting weathermany, but it's like, is it wet snow? Is it dry snow? Is there a ton of wind?

Is there, you know, all these other things with it? I think generally speaking, as long as I can operate and throw the ball, I think it gives an advantage to the offense. I think the rush slows down a tick. I think our guys know where they're going on a slippery field and the defense doesn't. As much as, you know, we all, you know, talk about how tough we are. I don't feel like everybody wants to tackle as much in a cold game. You know, I mean, I think there are some things where, like, you know, offense can have the advantage. If you have the right mindset and the right, you know, guys on your team and I'm lucky to be surrounded by those guys.

I mean, you look at what Puka was able to do and our backs were able to do in that Chicago game, just play physical and tough and run through tackles. I mean, it was the, you know, the changer of the game for us because it wasn't easy to throw and catch out there. We were just kind of finding completions and letting those guys do their things. So they're all different. They're a lot of fun to play in except when you're playing Caleb Williams and he sprints back and launches the freaking NFL Blitz jump throw for a touchdown.

I was like, what the hell is this? You said it, the NFL Blitz jump throw, man. like first off nostalgic as hell class of 09 guys no no NFL blitz but I just the guys on the Madden cover now and I was going to ask like I know it's not fun when you know

your defense is trying to get off the field and you want to get back on the field but like I feel like he's as tough and out as anybody in the NFL right now on third down and in the red zone I mean I think he's just like with the ball in the hand I mean it's as scary as anybody for sure right like you don't know what's going to happen he was running back to the 50

and I'm like in my head going Oh, sweet. All right. Unsound. Here we go. What are we doing here? And then I was like, oh, he launches. And I'm like, that looks kind of good, actually.

And then I'm like, oh, my God, they caught it. I'm like, look, you know. And then how quickly you got to move on. It's like, all right, move on. Here we go. Figure out a way to go win this thing. But yeah, he is dangerous, man. He can move around, makes great, I mean, unbelievable throws outside the pocket.

And I think Ben, you know, Johnson does a heck of a job of putting him in a position to go be successful. and, you know, plays into getting him out of the pocket some and let him do some of the stuff he's really, really good at. You played that 20, was it, 23 Philly D-line that went on to win the Super Bowl. It wasn't just the D-line, obviously, but they were a fantastic group. And I kind of wonder, as you look back over your career,

who are the D-lines that you had to prepare for that really kept you guys up at night throughout the week? Yeah, they obviously come to mind big and physical and talented in a lot of areas. early in my career, Minnesota with Pat Williams and the Pats. And then we had Jared Allen on one. Ever since Griffin and Brian Robeson. Brian Robeson.

And then there was another guy like Ray out, not Ray Allen. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Ray Edwards. Ray Edwards. Oh, stud. They were beast. That was a beastly group, dude. And then they just kind of like regrouped every couple of years. And I'd be like, oh, some new, you know, high-named, you know, high-played guys there.

But they were tough. You know, Green Bay when I was in Detroit, with their couple of years, they had clay rolling with, like, Clay. And I think it was like, BJ Raji, Kenny Clark. And then they brought in freaking Julius Peppers. And I'm like, what are we doing? The rich getting rich. And so that's a tough one.

Sam Fran, when I first got here, that was a war. 2021, the games, you go watch those games. And we played San Francisco, like the pocket was, it was like an explosion. And everybody's fighting their ass off. Offensive line, defensive line, just these guys falling all over each other, warring it out. It was like three and half a hitch, get it out, and, you know, hope somebody's open. But they were really, really talented as well.

Do you remember, I just saw this on miced up the other day, the NFL re-shared this, but I was in the twilight of my St. Louis career, and we had just drafted Aaron Donald. And we played Detroit. and I think you were healthy for that game. Yeah. Aaron had maybe three sacks. They ripped the guy's jersey. They were holding him so much.

And, you know, like he's walking up and down threatening veteran offensive alignment. Do you remember Aaron when he was a rookie and did you know, did y'all know what he was going to become? I mean, I don't know if you ever know what that guy is going to become. It was just unbelievable how great his career was. Yes, but I mean, yeah, we did. I mean, that was a game I'll never forget. I was standing there and Jim Bob Cooter was the coordinator, quarterback coach at that point or something.

And Aaron just gets through the line and rips the ball off me, takes both my biceps and pulls them apart. And I'm like, I got two hands on it, right? So I'm like, I'm doing quote unquote my job, right? I'm like, up. And he just goes, tush. And I come over to the sideline. I'm like, I got two hands out.

I don't know what to do. He's like, got to find a way to hold on to it. I'm like, get the fuck out of here with that, dude. This shit is like, he is so strong, you know, it's the ultimate coach just like, got to find a, figure out a way. I'm like, there ain't no way. There's no way, dude. That guy is he man strong. And the nice thing is when your teammates with him, you don't have to feel the brunt of that. No doubt, except for him just wrecking practice all the time.

Wrecking practice, yeah. He was unbelievable, man. What an unbelievable player. Speaking of unbelievable, D. Lyman, man, you got Miles Garrett coming to town. I know it's not like a clean analogy, but I do think there's something to, you know, spending a long time, given everything you have to a, to a team that's not getting over the hump. and eventually getting that trade and coming to greener pastures, if you will. Yeah. Have you guys talked about that? That like, holy shit, you woke up in L.A. This is what football is supposed to be like.

And also, how exciting is it to have him? Yeah, we haven't had that conversation yet. But there's no question about it. You're right, man. There are some parallels, right? Where I think, I know for me, and I'm assuming for Miles, and I know we'll have those conversations as we get back. back to training camp and do those things, but it was just invigorating, right?

Like, for so many years, I felt like I was, you know, I was this guy in Detroit. I was the, you know, leader of the organization, leader of it all, and still feel that way in LA, but you get traded and you're suddenly the new guy who's got to learn everything. And it's like this new juice where you're like, all right, now I just got to make sure I'm up to par with everybody else. And obviously the physical traits, his stats, his ability is second to none. He's an incredible football player. so I'm not worried about those things.

You're just, hey, man, there's some new energy to it where it's like football isn't the exact same that's been the last eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 years. And I know that can be energizing for a player and a guy that is smart enough to understand what the stakes are and the opportunity that he's just been given. So, you know, excited to have him obviously guts me to lose a guy like verse because I love playing with him, a guy that came in as a young player that like was beyond his years and his ability and his maturity and, you know, just wish him all the best. It sucks to lose guys anytime you're, you know, you know, spent time playing with him. But excited to have Miles,

really good football player. Yeah. And excited for, you know, what's to come. We just got to, you know, continue to work and get after each other a little bit in practice and see if we can make each other better. And I bet Cleveland eventually, you know, it turns out like Detroit, where, you know, they get on their feet and versus a part of that thing. So, I mean, it's just but two really good play. Devonte, I'm going through the list of toys that Les has gotten you. And just you guys, it felt like you guys had played together for a long time, just watching you. And one of the things I'm always curious about is like, how long does it take to get that back shoulder going between two great players, even? Yeah. Well, you know, and I think you and I were in a league where Aaron was as good as anybody in the world at doing that.

And I think it still is. I mean, he's unbelievable with his ability to throw the ball in the outside part of the field and goes and fades and back shoulders and all those kind of things. So, Devante was used to it being a certain way with him. And, you know, not only was it me and Devante kind of getting on the same page, but how does he fit in our offense that isn't always just line up outside the numbers, spread you out, throw slants and goes and hitches and a lot of those things that he was doing in Green Bay. So, you know, finding that happy medium of how we accentuate his sense.

skill set, but also fit in with what we're doing to where we're not changing everything. And so I think we had a solid year. I think he had a ton of touchdowns and a great, great season. I think there's opportunities where I can give him better chances to be an even more productive part of our offense. And that's exciting for me, right? It wasn't like first year, I mean, we definitely did some really good things. We scored a lot of points for our team, which was huge. But I do think there's a whole other level to it that I'm excited to continue to work with him on. And one thing about him, man, he's never satisfied as neither am I. And so we're always just trying to talk to each other after every single play. Hey, man, here's what I was thinking,

feeling. Here's how it came out. Hey, I'll get you a better ball in the next one or whatever it is. And having that relationship with those guys is pretty cool. Why is he so good in the red zone for somebody who might just observe it but not understand it? Yeah, I think obviously has great understanding and patience and feel people that have met him. He's not like a small player, right? Guys that can move like him or a lot of times undersized players. So they created that separation. And then in the Reds down, you run out of room. And size becomes, you know, an issue for those guys.

And so, hey, Tay's ability to shake somebody loose in a phone booth and then still be able to play up top over the top of them is as good as it gets. And I'll tell you what, there is certain guys that I've played with and nobody is good as him. But, you know, like the best comes out of them, the closer they get to the end zone. because, like, they want to score and shit. I love it. I mean, like, that's what you want.

You want those guys on your team. I think about Kairn Williams, same way, like, knows for the goal line. This guy, you hand it off to him, like, he's just finding ways to knife in and get in. And you play with those guys. And sure enough, you look up at the end of the year, and they got 10, 12, 15 touchdowns. And, you know, it's a huge part of why you're successful. Another new teammate, what do you want Ty Simpson to say about you when he retires in hopefully 15, 20 years? What do you want Ty Simpson to tell his buddies what Matt Stompson?

staffer was like and what he meant to him. I mean, hopefully, you know, he comes away with a guy that treated him the right way, showed him what it was about, what it's like to be a true professional, and also be yourself, right? I'm not some robot out there. Love playing the game. You see me mic up. I run around, yell like crazy, do all sorts of wild shit and have fun with the game because it is a kid's game.

But at the same time, hey, I'm here for him if he needs, you know, help. My number one job, I've said this, you know, a hundred times is like, my number one job is get our team and myself is ready to play as possible. and if he, you know, gathers information and learns from that along the way, I'm fired up for our team because that's going to make us better and I'm fired up for him. But I'm here to encourage, like everybody on our team, encourage everybody to do their best, keep getting better and find ways to improve. And, you know, hopefully, you know, he's a guy that, you know, 15, you know, 20 years down the road can look back and say, man, I really enjoy my time with Matthew and learned a lot from him. I'm sure he will. Talking about a QB room, I got a quick hitter or two for you get out of here.

2012 quarterback room in Detroit. You've got the famous Dan Orlovsky of ESPN fame. And then you've got Kellan Moore. He's a head coach in the NFL. What's more surprising? Head coach Kellan Moore or like most popular guy on TV, Dan Roelowski? You know, just based on his personality, the more surprising thing is Orlovsky made it on TV.

You know, he's a tough guy of year-round. He's a beauty. I love Dan. Dan and I are still like buddies. That's the good job. And Kellyn, the reason why that's not surprising is like you saw that early. You know, like you'd see him and man, this guy, he had a knack for the game, understanding for play calling and doing all those kind of things even as a player.

So, you know, it's cool to see both those guys do their thing and be so successful what they do and looks like they're both having a ton of fun doing it. Best throw you've ever made. Oh, man. I mean, what do you got? No, I was to say, Josh Allen, when I asked Josh Allen this, he was Jake Kumero. He knew right away, dude. I mean, the no looker to Cooper in the Super Bowl is the one that people talk about.

It was a good throw, but I think in the situation, that was a ballsy one. I threw a like a whole shot to my left to my college roommate, Chris Durham, when he was on the team in Detroit, coming back, a Dallas game, it was miced up for the game that was a rod. I mean, it was, it was a 35-yarder in the whole like rolling right, stop your feet and launch it back left in stride in a moment when you had to have it. That was a good one too. Okay, well, look those up. And last one for me, is Dylan Riola your godson? Yeah, I mean, well, I've known him from. Because his, yeah, because his dad, I remember. He calls me Uncle Matthew. Can we get him to emulate you a little bit out there. He's straight my homes. I'm kind of wondering. Do you feel like this is some disrespectful

shit? You got to call the kid. I grow a gray beard. That's the problem. No, I'm proud of the kid. He's a talented player. Time flies. No, time flies. Ooh. Time flies seeing you going to year 18, man. I wish you the best and keep those boys together out there, man. Take care of those Reggie and Byron and those guys for me. I'll make sure they're running a tight ship. No worries. Oh, yeah, dude. Yeah, thanks for coming on the show. You got it. Appreciate it, man.