Former Detroit Lions star Matthew Stafford has been warned by ex-teammate Taylor Decker that he should expect a "hostile" reception on his return to Ford Field.
The quarterback played for the Michigan outfit between 2009 and 2020 before departing for the Los Angeles Rams - winning the Super Bowl in his first campaign. Despite his long association with his old employers, the 36-year-old was on the receiving end of merciless jeers in Detroit during the Rams' loss in the wild-card game with the Lions in January.
In addition to this, his wife and four daughters were also subjected to booing from fans inside Ford Field during that playoff clash. Now, his old teammate Decker has admitted that he is expecting a similarly antagonistic reception for Stafford when he appears at the stadium once again in Week 1 of the new NFL season.
Speaking ahead of the game, he said: "Knowing our fans, I'm expecting hostile territory. And I know that Staff is going to take that in stride as a competitor, I don't think it's going to bother him one bit, but that's just the nature of the business. They want to cheer for their team."
All things considered, the offensive tackle is not expecting anything less than a febrile atmosphere inside the famous Michigan venue at the new term gets underway. He continued: "I'm fully expecting our fans to try and break that sound record again and you know it's going to be rocking and they're going to be partying all day.
"It's going to be fun, and they deserve to have the fun because they've been supporting us or supporting this team for maybe 30, 40 years. I've been getting support from these people for this is going on nine years, so they deserve it. They deserve to have fun and they do an incredible job supporting us.
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"You can't understate the value of a home field advantage like that. It's just pretty incredible," Decker continued, as he issued a warning to the Lions' next opponents. "Anybody who comes in here's the enemy," he said. "So we'll see. I could be wrong, but I think it's going to be hostile territory."
Stafford's wife will not be attending the game this time around either after the reception at the turn of the year from the Detroit fans. She confirmed: There’s a lot that goes into it… but I just think it’s the better decision for my mental health and for my daughters," before adding: "My husband doesn’t want to have to hear me be, ‘Ugh,’ upset.
"Not that I think I would be because I also grew in that experience too. You forget that this is football and this is a huge deal in Detroit . I forgot that and I was so emotionally involved that I also forgot this is a playoff football game. I think I would be better at also preparing my daughters in a way but I just don’t think it’s worth it at this point… So it’s just better this way."
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