Matthew Stafford has officially become the highest-paid NFL player of all time.
The 29-year-old is the starting quarterback for the Detroit Lions, and yesterday he inked a deal
with the team that will extend his contract for five years, netting him $135 million in the process. He led the Lions to second place in the NFC North with a 9-7 record, losing the playoffs Wild Card game to the Seattle Seahawks.
Here’s what you should know about Stafford:
- The Dallas, Texas native played college football at the University of Georgia.
- The Lions made him their first draft pick in 2009.
- He made his NFL debut the same year, and in 2011 he threw for over 5,000 yards, becoming only one in four quarterbacks to ever achieve the feat.
- Stafford made the Pro Bowl in 2014.
- He holds dozens of Lions records, including most career pass completions (2,634), most career 4,000 passing yard seasons (six), highest completion percentage in a single season (67.2% in 2015) and most fourth quarter comeback wins in a single season (8 in 2016, which is an NFL record as well).
- The quarterback married Kelly Hall in 2015, a former cheerleader at his alma mater.
- This past March, the couple introduced twin girls to the world.
- At the end of the 2016 season, Stafford reached the 30,000 career passing yards plateau.
The NFL season kicks off Sunday, Sept. 10 for the Lions as Stafford and co. host the Arizona Cardinals at 1:00 p.m. ET.
