Matt Stafford is about to do something new for the first time in his professional football career. Serve as a mentor.
When Stafford appeared as a guest on the Green Light Podcast, hosted by Chris Long, Stafford was asked what he hopes rookie quarterback Ty Simpson will say about him in 15-20 years.
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“I mean, hopefully, he comes away with a guy that treated him the right way, showed him what it was about, what it’s like to be a true professional and also be yourself, right?” Stafford said. “I’m not some robot out there. …My number one job is to get our team and myself as ready to play as possible.”
“And if he gathers information and learns from that along the way, I’m fired up for our team because that’s going to make us better, and I’m fired up for him.”
When the Rams took Simpson with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, it came as a shock, as many expected the Rams to take an impact player to help them compete now, instead of making a move for the future.
During his four-year College Football career, Simpson has only started once. Last year as a redshirt junior at Alabama, Simpson threw for 3,567 yards and 28 touchdowns, leading the Crimson Tide to an 11-4 season that ended in a 38-3 loss to Indiana at the Rose Bowl in the second round of the College Football Playoff.
A year removed from being a full-time starter, Simpson will now go back to serving as a backup and will be their for the near future as Stafford recently signed a $105 million contract extension.
For Simpson, he’s in one of the best situations a rookie quarterback could be in as Stafford has been one of the best quarterbacks in football, playing in the league for the past 18 years, winning his first career Super Bowl with the Rams in 2021, and winning his first MVP last season, after he threw 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns.
As Stafford looks to win one more Super Bowl with the Rams before he retires, it appears he’s on board with mentoring a young rookie.
“Hopefully [Ty Simpson] is a guy that 15-20 years down the road can look back and say, ‘Man, I really enjoyed my time with Matthew and learned a lot from him.”
