Rams' Stafford: 'It's been a while' since I've been this excited for a season

Matthew Stafford can't wait to play quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams acquired Stafford in a trade with the Detroit Lions this offseason, and the signal-caller will now have a strong supporting class, which might help explain his feelings ahead of the 2021 campaign.

"It's been a while (since I've been this excited for a season)," Stafford told Los Angeles Times' Sam Farmer. "We had some good teams in Detroit, and I'm excited every single year because I love playing this game. But those years we made the playoffs, I thought we had good teams. But I'm very excited about playing for this team, the Rams organization."

Stafford played his first 12 NFL seasons with the Lions, who drafted him first overall in 2009. The 33-year-old posted a 74-90-1 record as a starter in Detroit and left the franchise as its all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns.

The Lions made the postseason three times with Stafford under center, losing in the wild-card game on every occasion. Detroit also often failed to upgrade the unit on the other side of the ball, with the team's defense placing in the top 10 for scoring and yards just once throughout Stafford's tenure.

In Los Angeles, Stafford will join a team with a defense that ranked first in the NFL last year and features several stars, including three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.

"I'm excited about trying to get to know these guys," Stafford added. "To win as consistently as the Rams have won in the last four or five years, you've got to have good people. You can't just have good players and good coaches. It's a really fun thing for me to be a part of, just trying to immerse myself in the team."

The Rams have won 43 games over the last four seasons, earning three playoff berths. Los Angeles' deepest postseason run over that span ended with a loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.

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