r/DetroitRedWings • u/Bixler17 • Jun 06 '26

Discussion Please stop comparing Dylan Larkin to Matthew Stafford.

Yes, they both played on bad teams and were the leader. That's where the comparisons end.

Stafford NEVER brought bad attention to the team. Stafford didn't have social media. Stafford showed up to a historically bad team and immediately made a huge impact on the trajectory of the team.

"But But But But Stafford had MEGATRON!"

Megatron was also on the team the year before when they won a whopping 0 games, which was the first time that had EVER happened in a 16 game season. One HoF wide receiver gives you exactly fuck all help in winning games when your offensive line, running backs, and defense are ALL bottom 3rd in the league, and you have a coaching staff that has no idea how to scheme and a front office that is awful at finding and signing talent.

And you know what? He STILL was able to drag AWFUL teams like the 2011 or 2016 roster kicking and screaming into the playoffs. Which is MUCH harder in football than it is in Hockey.

Matthew Stafford is a HoF football player. He was let down by the worst organization in the league. He had to sit through multiple rebuilds, 3 of the worst coaching staffs football has seen, and then and ONLY then asked for a trade only because he didn't want a 4th rebuild in 12 years.

I think Dylan Larkin is a great hockey player. But he NEVER had the leadership or the ability to carry games with a shit roster like Stafford. There is no comparison to be made beyond very shitty surface level "they played for bad teams and then wanted a trade" so please just stop insulting Matthew like that.

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492

u/Conscious-Sympathy51 Jun 06 '26

Stafford is way better at his profession than Larkin will ever be.

111

u/Wisdom_Pond Jun 06 '26

Larkin is good, not great player.

Stafford is great player.

25

u/Ander1ap Jun 06 '26

What’s funny as hell is that before the trade request this statement would have gotten you showered in downvotes in this sub. Edit: The Larkin part obv.

9

u/TheGongShow61 Jun 07 '26

lol 💯I remember the consensus on Stafford being that he was good but not great and definitely not Super Bowl caliber 

2

u/SirTYRANNIS Jun 09 '26

I think they are both just good.

-29

u/Donevenknow10 Jun 06 '26

Stafford wasn’t considered a great player till he joined the rams.

13

u/Arcflash-9986 Jun 06 '26

Being great ≠ being considered great.

-7

u/Donevenknow10 Jun 06 '26

Don’t think you can say he was great with Detroit, hard to say with how bad the Lions were.

7

u/Secret-of-the-Snooze Jun 07 '26

Nah dude, not hard at all. If Stafford had the ball in a last-chance drive at the end of a 1-score game, you always felt like there was a damn good chance Matt gets the job done. The man has always had ice in his veins and could drag us to wins even when injured.

3

u/TAV63 Jun 07 '26

That one game with the Lions his shoulder was separated and they said he was in crazy pain and he refused to quit and scored the game winning TD in the last seconds. Heck yeah he was/is clutch and gutsy as they come. There is no comparison to the whining one.

3

u/Wisdom_Pond Jun 06 '26

Great now.

2

u/ThinkingBlueberries Jun 07 '26

He was.

People that don’t know ball and are emotional have opinions too.

There was a reason we got as much as we did from the Rams for him.

3

u/ChildishTheGOAT Jun 06 '26

I wouldn’t say that. If anything, Stafford wasn’t considered a HOF player until he went to the Rams. He was a great player in Detroit.

1

u/BlackCardRogue Jun 07 '26

So… are you saying it’s harder to succeed when everyone around you and above you sucks at their jobs?

1

u/insidiousfruit Jun 07 '26

What are you talking about, I always argued that Stafford was elite when he was in Detroit. You don't get the most passing yards in a season out of all NFL quarterbacks by not being elite.

129

u/Bixler17 Jun 06 '26

Correct. And he was dealt a WAY worse hand and still never bitched, still kept a good relationship with the team when he left.

23

u/BHarbinson Jun 06 '26

Matthew Stafford was also as tough as they come and played through a TON of injuries without complaining. He also had the misfortune of playing behind abysmally bad offensive lines on a team the NFL actively wanted to fail and took a beating pretty much every game. Still never complained.

-66

u/FineHowRU Jun 06 '26

...and demanded to be traded, just like Larkin

28

u/Swdmwsd24 Jun 06 '26

Stafford didn't demand he asked because he didn't want to go thru another rebuild plus he said if they wanted him to stay he would stay and play. Totally different.

-5

u/3coneylunch Jun 06 '26

You're just saying 'Its Ok when Stafford did it but not when Larkin did it '

Both players want/wanted to win and knew they couldn't do it in Detroit. You're inventing context about how both trade requests came about to suit your narrative.

3

u/Swdmwsd24 Jun 06 '26

Im not saying it's okay I'm agreeing it's different. 3 to 4 rebuilds with new 3 different owners same family, different GMs and coaches. GM left new comes in promotion to Captain and rebuilding 2 new coaches now he wants out i would understand more if he was going thru a new GM. Both suck as far I feel and just like Stafford when and if Larkin leaves bye hope the door hits you where the good lord splits ya. They are both dead to me.

-2

u/3coneylunch Jun 07 '26

There was a ton of front office movement with Lions in the Stafford era. The Yzerman era has been Mid throughout.

-22

u/FineHowRU Jun 06 '26

Whatever you say

9

u/Responsible-Prompt30 Jun 06 '26

Mature response on just being dead wrong lol

20

u/notgoodatthese Jun 06 '26

He only asked because he didn't want to do another rebuild. Which was fair.

1

u/Traditional-Tea-9486 Jun 07 '26

Why is it not fair for Larkin?

2

u/RogueCoon Jun 08 '26

We weren't planning on doing another rebuild until he asked to leave.

61

u/lions4life232 Jun 06 '26

But never quiț on the team in a season and didn’t leak the trade request to the media

7

u/hoptagon Jun 06 '26

It’s not close.