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Our surly bearded Cinderella has left the ball early, but four outstanding GIF-able moments remain in the mix. As luck would have it, both of our third round match-ups in the inaugural Pride of Detroit GIF of the Year tournament pit Matthew Stafford GIFs against Golden Tate GIFs. Will it be an all-Stafford final, an all-Golden final, or something in-between? Let’s recap how the final four survivors got here.
#7 Stafford trucks Perrish Cox vs. #3 Pom poms
On Christmas Day last year, David Waldstein of the New York Times relayed a nice statement from Golden Tate about the toughest quarterback in the league:
If the Lions trail as the clock is draining, Stafford will extemporize long pass plays out of desperate scrambles, dive for critical yardage on fourth down, absorb punishing hits and play through an array of injuries, both serious and minor.
“He’s the ultimate competitor,” Lions wide receiver Golden Tate said. “He throws his body around for us and fights for every yard. I love to see it, but I hope and pray every time that he’s going to get back up. In those late-game situations, he kind of carries the team on his back.”
One such instance of Wheels fighting for extra yards on a scramble came at the expense of former Tennessee Titans cornerback Perrish Cox. Cut in late November, Cox had a very bad year, which could be summed up by the #7 GIF in the tournament:
Round 1: Defeated #10 MIN Papa Jim reaction, 268-96
Round 2: Defeated #15 A’shawn lifts Zeke off ground, 282-53
Speaking of Golden Tate, he was also quick to praise the new Detroit Lions cheerleaders for making his first touchdown celebration of the 2016 season a great one. Per Tony Paul at the Detroit News, the star wide receiver believes our #3 GIF was a team effort:
Now, the bigger question: After watching film, how would he judge his routine?
"Uhhh, your boy's got some rhythm," he said with a grin. "Don't sleep on my rhythm. They (the cheerleaders) kind of synched in with me, I didn't sync in with them. They must have been prepared for it."
Round 1: Defeated #14 Hey stupid, think!, 248-116
Round 2: Defeated #6 Are you not entertained, 169-161
#4 Stafford Get Out! vs. #1 Tate buttflip
Like the record-breaking 2016 Golden State Warriors, Golden Tate’s exclamation point finish in overtime at Minnesota appears nigh unbeatable as we near the finals:
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It almost seems like the buttflip is starting this round with a 3-1 lead, doesn’t it? Well, fourth quarter comeback-mode Matthew Stafford has something to say to all the haters who think our #4 GIF has no chance to beat the buttflip:
Round 1: Defeated #13 JAX 4Q Fans with Hats, 213-41
Round 2: Defeated #5 Sam Martin DAFUQ?, 263-55
And last but not least, the aforementioned buttflip. Poor Andrew Sendejo. Being Perrish Cox on the business end of a brutal Stafftruckin’ is bad, but just imagine how this must have felt:
Round 1: Defeated #16 Tate flex, 251-10
Round 2: Defeated #8 Stafford helmetless sack, 242-78
These four polls are set to close after 11:59 pm Eastern time on Saturday the 18th of February. Once everything closes, we will post the Round 4 gold and bronze medal match-ups for your enjoyment. Thanks for voting, and please share your take on these 2016 GIF-able moments in the comments section below!
For part 1 of the first round, you can check it out in this post.
For part 2 of the first round, you can check it out in this post.
To go back to view the second round, you can check it out in this post.