'The Spirit of Detroit' transformed Matthew Stafford into an idol in the Motor City
DETROIT — Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has spent his career lighting up scoreboards, but this one was more meaningful than most.
It is beside a football field that bears his name at a community center in one of the poorest parts of the city. When he was playing for the Detroit Lions, Stafford and his wife, Kelly, made substantial donations to the SAY Detroit Play Center, featuring an artificial-turf field with their foundation logo in the middle.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Stafford threw the switch to bring that scoreboard to life. It was a somewhat rare public appearance for the Staffords in terms of philanthropy. Often, their work took place behind the scenes and with little fanfare, including their tradition of choosing families in need over the Christmas holidays, providing them with all of their gifts and stopping by to spend the day
