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We understand training camp is underway and everyone in Lions twitter is overdosing on spicy “who won which rep” takes, so how about a random bit of fun from Matthew Stafford’s appearance on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” this morning? The show’s official Twitter account posted the entire segment as an embedded video:
Matthew Stafford joined #GMFB to talk about recovering from his back injury, his false positive COVID-19 test, the @Lions 2020 season & more!
— GMFB (@gmfb) August 21, 2020
"It's a lot of fun to get the pads back on and throw to all the talented dudes I got around me. I'm just having a blast being out there." pic.twitter.com/1YEewGBBKC
Most of the back and forth was fairly standard stuff, kicked off by former Lions receiver Nate Burleson with a glowing introduction and a few questions about how Stafford and his family was feeling health-wise. Kyle Brandt followed up by asking Stafford to walk them through the experience of his false positive test earlier this month.
Kay Adams took it back to on-the-field topics, and when she asked the Lions’ starting quarterback about new Lions running back D’Andre Swift the praise flowed freely. Our own Jeremy Reisman wrote this morning about Stafford’s reply, which elaborated on the veteran’s efforts to reach out and help prepare some of the younger players on the roster able to make it locally to his home in Georgia.
Stafford also had many good things to say about a retired Lion when Burleson asked for his thoughts on Kellen Moore. Their former shared teammate is about to enter his second season as offensive coordinator in Dallas. Among the things that came up were Moore’s temperament, flexibility, and creativity.
I see @Eamonn_Reynolds put up @nateburleson’s jersey in the background of Matthew Stafford’s tv spot on @GMFB
— Erik Schlitt (@erikschlitt) August 21, 2020
Here’s where we get our fun tale: Peter Schrager noted the decor in the frame with Stafford and asked for a good Nate Burleson story. Apparently Burleson and tight end Tony Scheffler “were always battling it out to see who could have the better celebrations.” Of the many Burleson celebrations, the one that stuck out in Stafford’s mind was from the 2012 season in which Burleson was fined by the league for pretending to shoot a bird.
Wait, take that and rewind it back. Tony Scheffler? Really? Yes, really:
Finally, Brandt asked about the charitable contribution to the University of Georgia, which was also covered by Jeremy Reisman this morning. In thanking Stafford for his appearance on the show, Burleson reminded viewers of who Schrager selected for his dark horse MVP candidate two weeks ago:
Who is your biggest dark horse candidate for the 2020 NFL MVP?@PSchrags ➡️ Matt Stafford@KyleBrandt ➡️ @KirkCousins8 @nateburleson ➡️ @K1 pic.twitter.com/Uh38g750pv
— GMFB (@gmfb) August 11, 2020
All in all, a fun time was had and it’s not a long video, so check out the full segment in the tweet at the top. Now, on to the rest of today’s Notes:
- Following practice, rookie cornerback Jeff Okudah was available for questions from the media. The team has the video from the session posted on their YouTube channel (about 0:50 to 8:00 mark in the video):
Before we get too hyped for the interception asked about at the very beginning of the session, Justin Rogers with the Detroit News has some context from Stafford’s media session (which comes later in that same video, around the 16:30 mark):
Basically saying it was a good play, but it was a ball Stafford took a chance on, putting it into tight coverage because there was no risk. https://t.co/6D17nHHrGb
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) August 21, 2020
- We had an article on Frank Ragnow’s media session yesterday, but in case you missed the other appearances, the full video is posted on the team’s YouTube account. Also appearing were Amani Oruwariye and Julian Okwara. MLive’s Ben Raven had a nice writeup of Okwara’s session and Dave Birkett with the Detroit Free Press reported on Oruwariye’s session.
- Former Lions wide receiver Travis Fulgham was signed off waivers by the Green Bay Packers last week then cut on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Philadelphia Eagles signed Fulgham off waivers from the Packers.
- Yesterday, Justin Rogers from the Detroit News wrote about how veteran running back Jonathan Williams is making a case to join the Lions backfield in 2020.
- The Detroit Economic Club will host a 30-minute video conference meeting with Lions general manager Bob Quinn and team president Rod Wood on August 31 for its members. Fox 2’s Dan Miller is the moderator for the event, which is not open to the public.
- A story in four tweets from our pal at Lions Wire:
A Packers scout just smacked the desk in the press box as hard as possible after that last sack
— Erik Schlitt (@erikschlitt) October 7, 2018
Still more professional that what happened during the Packers game https://t.co/WriVLrYKlc
— Erik Schlitt (@erikschlitt) October 21, 2018
Um.... there's no cheering in the press box https://t.co/KJjSoQnsz4
— Erik Schlitt (@erikschlitt) December 29, 2019
If there are any Packers' scouts following me, please ask Gutekunst to stop sitting in front of me in the Press Box at Ford Field, as he does not follow the "no cheering" rule https://t.co/g8iDo38WH7
— Erik Schlitt (@erikschlitt) August 20, 2020