No, Matthew Stafford is not a math wizard

During a virtual broadcast of DetroitLions.com’s pre-draft show, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford made himself look like a genius. Joining Tori Petry and former Lions offensive lineman T.J. Lang, Stafford answered a long multiplication problem in his head, just as he had done in an episode of the online series “Talkin’ with T.J.” a few years back.

In the video, Stafford appears to know the answer to 9,758 x 618 with just a few seconds of calculations in his head. Lang confirms Stafford’s answer in the video with his calculator,

“Is it nice just being good at everything, man?” Lang says to Stafford.

The video went viral, with some outlets declaring Matthew Stafford a genius, math wizard, human calculator, or even Rain Man.

But I’m afraid it was all a trick illusion.

On Thursday, Stafford jumped on a Zoom call with the Detroit media—after his initial session had already ended—and came clean.

“I can’t believe you guys fell for the math trick,” Stafford said from his makeshift gym in his garage. “T.J. and I have been doing that for years. He texts me the answer beforehand and I just read it off and sell it hard. I guess I deserve a daytime Emmy, but for sure, not a math award.”

Sorry, Lions fans. I guess you’ll just have to settle for an elite quarterback with average math skills.