Former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford made an extremely kind gesture to a Detroit fan who made a big sacrifice.
Detroit Lions playoff tickets were incredibly expensive this year, and some fans went to extreme lengths to get into Ford Field to see what could have been an incredible Super Bowl run. Take, for example, Bryson Machonga. He went viral the week of the playoffs for opting to sell his autographed Matthew Stafford jersey to make the trip from Wisconsin to bring his daughter to Detroit to see her first-ever Lions playoff game.
Obviously, the game didn’t go as they would’ve liked, with Detroit losing 45-31. However, this story still does have a relatively happy ending. The Detroit Free Press followed up on the story with an update via Stafford himself.
Apparently, Stafford caught wind of the story and sent Machonga another autographed jersey—but this one was game-worn from the Lions’ 2014 season.
“I was over the moon. … Disbelief at the start,” Machonga told the Detroit Free Press. “But then it just turned into resounding joy, excitement.
“It just reconfirmed who Matthew Stafford is. He had no reason to go about doing this. He had no gain. He’s not our quarterback anymore … he went out of his way in a playoff week.”
Obviously, Stafford is a polarizing figure in Detroit, not just because of his mixed results as the Lions quarterback for 12 years, but because of a renewed rivalry between the Lions and the Rams—Stafford’s new team. It doesn’t help that Stafford called Kerby Joseph dirty during the two teams’ playoff run during the 2023 season.
But this story reaffirms that Stafford still cares about the city of Detroit and is an overall good person. Or, as Machonga said:
“It’s what sports are meant to do, bring people closer together. He did that — it speaks to his character.”
