Matthew Stafford

John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988 in Tampa, Florida) is an NFL prospect who was previously the starting quarterback for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. He is in his junior year of college, having enrolled at the school in January 2006. He is majoring in speech communication. As of Jan. 7, 2009 he has announced his intentions to enter the NFL draft.

Early Life and High School Career

Stafford was born in Tampa, Florida to John and Margaret Stafford. He lived in Dunwoody, Georgia while his father attended graduate school at the University of Georgia. His family then moved to Dallas, Texas, where Stafford attended Highland Park High School, (the alma mater of Bobby Layne and Doak Walker), and where he was widely considered to be one of the best high-school quarterbacks in the United States in the class of 2006.

He made his varsity debut in the 2002 playoffs against Sulphur Springs High. His first varsity start was against the Stephenville Yellow Jackets in 2003, and he led the Highland Park Scots to a 13-2 record that season. He threw for 3,161 yards, 38 TDs and 5 INTs. After a disappointing junior season in which he threw for only 1,748 yards, 18 TDs and 11 INTs, Stafford quit the baseball team to concentrate on football. In the summer of 2005, he injured his knee during summer workouts and had to miss the first two games of the season. After coming back from his injury, Stafford led his team to a 15-0 record and threw for 4,018 yards, 38 touchdowns and 6 interceptions en route to the Texas UIL 4-A Division 1 state football championship, Highland Park's first state football championship in 48 years. Stafford is the only quarterback in Highland Park history to lead his team to a 15-0 season.

He received numerous accolades including being named to the Parade Magazine All-America Team and the USA Today Pre-Season Super 25 in 2005. He also won the MVP and Best Arm awards at the 2005 EA Sports Elite 11 Quarterback Camp and was named the 2005 EA Sports National Player of the Year. Famed American football analyst, Mel Kiper, Jr., predicted, before he ever started a game at the collegiate level, that Stafford would eventually be the first pick in the NFL draft. After the 2008 NFL Draft in late April 2008, several NFL analysts predicted Stafford would be the #1 pick in the 2009 draft if he chose to leave school after the 2008 season.ref>Prisco, Pete (April 28, 2008). "Drafting '09: Georgia QB Stafford starts out as top dog". CBSSports.com.</ref>

College Carrer

Freshman

Stafford graduated from high school early and enrolled at UGA in January, where he become the first true freshman Bulldog QB to start since Quincy Carter (1998) and first out of high school to start since Eric Zeier (1991). He completed five of 12 passes for 102 yards and one TD in Georgia spring game. Stafford debuted against Western Kentucky University in the first game of the 2006 Season he went 3 of 5 passing; 40 yards and a touchdown pass. Against South Carolina, bulldogs starter quarterback Joe Tereshinski III was injured in the game and replaced by Stafford. Stafford completed 8 of 19 passes for 171 yards, but threw 3 interceptions, however Georgia won 18-0. Stafford got his first career start at quarterback vs UAB Blazers and completed 10 of 17 passes for 107 yards with no touchdowns or interception. Stafford was named SEC Freshman of the Week for his performance against Mississippi State in which he completed 20-of-32 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. He led team to a 14-9 comeback at Ole Miss after down 3-0 at the half.

Stafford was eventually given the starting role, he struggled in his first year, completing 126 of 235 passes (53.6%) for 1,620 yards, with six touchdowns and 12 interceptions heading into the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl, where Stafford and the Bulldogs made 18-point comeback was the largest for Georgia under coach Mark Richt up to that point. He finished the game with 9/21 passes,129 yards, 1 TD and 1 Int. He was the recipient of the Dr. and Mrs. Howard Williams, III, Football Scholarship and named team's Offensive Newcomer of the Year. This paragraph needs to be severely edited for grammar.

Sophomore

Stafford completed six of 12 passes for 155 yards and two TDs in spring game before the season. He threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns as the Bulldogs cruised past the Cowboys in the season opener, Georgia won its first game of the season for an 11th consecutive season. Against the Alabama Crimson Tide the Dawgs avoided an 0-2 start in SEC play by escaping Bryant-Denny Stadium with an overtime win. He connected with senior wide receiver Mikey Henderson on the Bulldogs first play from scrimmage in OT for the winning score. He completed 11-of-18 passes for 217 and three touchdowns including a career-long TD pass of 84 yards to Mohamed Massaquoi, which was the longest pass completion in the SEC in 2007, and a 53-yard TD pass to Henderson vs. No. 9 Florida Gators. Stafford registered 175 yards passing and a TD pass to Sean Bailey during Georgia 41-10 rout of No. 10 Hawaii Warriors in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. His final stats were 13 starts completing 194-for-348 passes for 2,523 yards (194.1 per game) and 19 TDs as well as two rushing TDs.

Junior

Stafford was chosen to Athlon’s preseason Heisman Favorites Others To Watch list. Georgia was ranked #1 in both the preseason coaches poll and AP poll, marking the first time Georgia has ever been #1 in the preseason version of either poll, also entered the 2008 season with the longest active winning streak among the 66 BCS conference teams having won their last 7 games of the 2007 season.

Preseason Honors

• Was named to Davey O'Brien Award Watch List
• Selected Preseason All-SEC 2nd Team by the SEC Coaches, Lindy’s, Athlon, Phil Steele and The Birmingham News.
• Was named in the preseason as the SEC’s Best Passer by The Birmingham News
• Selected as a preseason Davey O’Brien candidate by The Sporting News.
• Was tabbed in the preseason as the nation’s No. 6 rated quarterback by Phil Steele and the No. 8 rated quarterback by Lindy’s.

In season opener against Georgia Southern University he passed for a then career-high 275 yards on 13-of-21 pass attempts including two TDs, he recorded back-to-back 200 passing yard game completed 18-of-28 passes for 213 yards and two TDs against Central Michigan. In one of the most awaited matchups on the SEC against Alabama, Stafford completed a 16–yard pass to wide receiver A. J. Green, who fumbled the ball which was subsequently fumbled and recovered by linebacker Dont'a Hightower. After Alabama converted when Glen Coffee a 41–10 lead by scoring his second rushing touchdown of the game, Georgia struck back when he completed a 24–yard touchdown pass to Michael Moore, though failed in an attempted two-point conversion. Georgia got the ball back after a successful onside kick, starting their drive at the Alabama 40–yard line. A. J. Green caught a 21–yard touchdown pass from Stafford again for their final score of the game, but Alabama survived 41–30 in Athens. Next game, Georgia ended a 2-game losing streak to Tennessee Volunteers with a 26–14 win in Athens. Stafford had 310 yards passing in his first career 300-yard passing game, a 28-yard field goal by Blair Walsh capped off a 17 play, fourth quarter drive that ran 10 minutes and 55 seconds off the clock. The drive was the longest by an SEC team since LSU had an 11 minute, 2 second drive against Arizona State in 2005. In the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party game against Florida Gators, Stafford struggled, going 18 of 33 for 265 yards passing with 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Stafford had a career high 376 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. Mohammed Massaquoi also had a career high 191 receiving yards with 8 receptions and 1 touchdown against Kentucky Wildcats. The Bulldogs went to play in the 2009 Capital One Bowl vs Michigan State Spartans where Stafford threw TD passes to Michael Moore, Aron White and Knowshon Moreno to beat the Spartans, he was named the MVP of the game. Stafford was named winner of the Vince Dooley Most Valuable Player of the Year Award.. On January 7, 2009, along with Knowshon Moreno, Stafford announced that he would enter the 2009 NFL Draft.

The “Stafford Effect”

The so-called “Stafford Effect” relates to the phenomenon seen at Stafford's high school alma mater, Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas, from 2006-2008, where the number of seniors who applied to University of Georgia rose dramatically in the three years following Stafford's departure to Athens, Georgia. In 2005, the year before Stafford went to Georgia, 35 seniors applied to the university, compared with 69 in 2006, 75 in 2007, and 106 in 2008. The “Stafford Effect” was chronicled in a feature story in Stafford's hometown newspaper, Park Cities People. Stafford remarked in the story that, “I'm not sure I have anything to do with it,” he said about the increase. “I think people realize Georgia is a good school to watch football and have a good time, just like in Highland Park.”

College career

Career statistics

(as of January 2, 2009)

Passing									Rushing
Year	Comp	Att	Yards	Pct.	TDs	Int	Rating		Att	Yds	Avg	TD
2006	135	256	1,749	52.7	7	13	109.0		47	191	4.1	3
2007	194	348	2,523	55.7	19	10	128.9		39	-18	-0.5	2
2008	235	382	3,459	61.5	25	10	153.9		55	40	0.7	1
Totals	564	986	7,731	57.2	51	33	133.4		141	213	1.5	6

• Stafford's 25 touchdown passes in 2008 broke the previous Georgia record of 24, set by D. J. Shockley (2004) and Eric Zeier (1993, 1994).
• Stafford's 3,459 yards passing in 2008 were 2nd most in Georgia history, surpassed only by Zeier's 3,525 yards in 1993.

Awards

• Named SEC Freshman of the Week twice during the 2006 season.
• Named Rivals.com's National Freshman of the Week for his performance against Auburn on November 11, 2006.
• Received the University of Georgia's 2006 Offensive Newcomer of the Year Award.
• Named to the 2006 SEC Coaches' All-Freshman Team.
• Named Offensive MVP of the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl
• Named to All-SEC 2nd team in 2008
• Phil Steele’s All-SEC second Team
• MVP of the 2009 Capital One Bowl

External links

• ESPN.com Player information
• UGA Roster
• CBS Sportsline Player Card
• Matthew Stafford's 2005 Season Highlights on YouTube