Detroit Free Press

Gary Tranquill was experimenting with different concepts in his first year as offensive coordinator at Boston College, bouncing between the huddle and no-huddle offenses, when his first-year graduate assistant, his former walk-on quarterback at North Carolina, Ben Johnson, came up with a simple but ingenious plan to help ease Tranquill’s burden as play caller. Johnson,

The Detroit Lions will have a new inside linebackers coach in 2022 after parting ways with Mark DeLeone. DeLeone, the son of longtime college and NFL assistant George DeLeone, joined Dan Campbell’s staff last winter. Campbell and the elder DeLeone spent one season working together with the Miami Dolphins. The Lions ranked 29th in total

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI. The quarterback in that game was Matthew Stafford, you know the former Detroit Lions signal caller who was with the team for 12 seasons. You might’ve heard of him. BIG NUMBERS FROM THE D: Detroit Lions fans help propel Super

More people watched a Super Bowl starring Matthew Stafford than one starring Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. And, maybe, you can thank Detroit Lions fans for that. Super Bowl 56, between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, was watched on television by more people than Super Bowl 55 nationwide, but that was especially true in

Super Bowl 56 is over, the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals crafting another Super Sunday classic in LA as the Rams won their second Lombardi Trophy and first while representing the City of Angels. With the NFL’s longest-ever season, all 285 games of it, now complete, the league prepares to shift into what often seems

You want to be happy for Matthew Stafford? Then be happy for Matthew Stafford. You want to begrudge Matthew Stafford? Then begrudge Matthew Stafford. You want to make fun of those who are thrilled for what Stafford just accomplished? Then do it from a corner. It’s safer there, and you won’t have to worry about

There’s no easy or subtle way to say this, so I’m just going to say it: Matthew Stafford was robbed of the Super Bowl 56 MVP award. Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m the guy who said Detroit Lions fans shouldn’t root for the Los Angeles Rams quarterback after his disappointing career in Detroit. And, true

Matthew Stafford sat down for his postgame interview after Super Bowl LVI on Sunday surrounded by family. His twin daughters, Chandler and Sawyer, sat on his lap. His 3-year-old, Hunter, balanced on the ledge of the podium in front of him. And when Hunter turned to see her toddler sister trying to climb on stage,

Eminem brought some 313 to the 213 in a Los Angeles-themed Super Bowl halftime show Sunday night — and kneeled to take a social stand as he did it. The Detroit rapper, in possible defiance of the NFL, wrapped his performance of “Lose Yourself” by taking a knee a la Colin Kaepernick as he helped

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — He began the day as a climber, but he finished it on the mountaintop. After 12 years in the NFL with a bumbling franchise that never sniffed greatness, Matthew Stafford went west, as young men in America used to do when pursuing their dreams. And Sunday night, his came true. In a

Matthew Stafford got his ring, and in return the Detroit Lions will get the 32nd pick in April’s NFL draft. The Lions traded Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams last January for quarterback Jared Goff, a third-round pick in 2021 and first-round choices in 2022-23. Stafford led a 15-play, 79-yard game-winning touchdown drive Sunday as

Detroit Lions fans had a vested interest in Super Bowl 56. Not only did former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford lead the Rams to a 23-20 win with a patented come-from-behind victory, but the Lions’ extra first-round draft pick, coming from LA via the Stafford trade, hung on the game result. Because the Rams were able

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Nearly 13 years after he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Detroit Lions, quarterback Matthew Stafford achieved the NFL’s highest prize, the Lombardi Trophy, by leading a determined fourth-quarter comeback. His 1-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Kupp with 1:25 remaining in Super Bowl 56 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, was everything

Dominic Raiola was on the phone with a Grand Rapids-based moving company earlier this week, trying to coordinate his family’s relocation from Texas to Arizona, when the manager on the other end made small talk with the ex-Detroit Lions lineman about Super Bowl LVI. “They were like, ‘Do you still talk to Stafford? Tell him the

Free Press sports writers give their predictions on who will win Super Bowl 56 between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in Inglewood, California: DAVE BIRKETT’S SCOUTING REPORT: Super Bowl LVI: Rams vs. Bengals prediction Dave Birkett The Bengals have had a remarkable run to reach their first Super Bowl in

Richard Bak |  Special to the Free Press If the NFL and Madison Avenue are to be believed, today’s Super Bowl LVI between Los Angeles and Cincinnati will once again be “The Game of the Year.” Certainly, no other American sporting event attracts more eyeballs or generates as much revenue. But between trumpet blasts on this

Bill Dow |  Special to Detroit Free Press Frank Beckmann, the play-by-play voice of Michigan football for 33 years who also had long stints calling games for the Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers, has died at age 72 in hospice care Beckmann suffered from vascular dementia and had several strokes recently. “It’s just so sad losing Frank,”

Super Bowl LVI: Los Angeles Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals The coaches: Rams – Sean McVay (55-26 overall, 55-26 with Rams); Bengals – Zac Taylor (16-32-1 overall, 16-32-1 with Bengals). Last game: NFC championship game: Rams beat San Francisco 49ers, 20-17. AFC championship game: Bengals beat Kansas City Chiefs, 27-24. Last meeting: Oct. 27, 2019; Rams

Ten years ago, I sat across from Kelly Hall in the New Orleans airport on the morning after the Detroit Lions’ wild-card playoff loss to the Saints. She wasn’t married to Matthew Stafford at the time. But they were a couple, even several years after they had been college sweethearts at the University of Georgia.

If you’ve had access to a scrap of Detroit sports media (or know someone who has, or know someone who knows someone… ) over the past two weeks, you may be aware that longtime Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will be starting Super Bowl 56 for a team that is … <gasp> not the Lions.