Matthew Stafford's 2012 Comments About Obama Read Completely Differently Now

Winning Super Bowl LVI was a culmination in Matthew Stafford's career. The quarterback helped lead the Los Angeles Rams to the NFL mountaintop after toiling away with the Detroit Lions for 12 seasons without postseason success. Stafford was understandably emotional after the Rams won the title. "It's probably gonna take some time," he told reporters following the win, per NFL.com. He also spoke about what the title meant to his wife, Kelly Stafford. "She's been with me through all these years and we've battled so many things together."

Besides the on-the-field failings of the Lions during Stafford's tenure, the team also experienced a bit of controversy with former President Donald Trump. In 2017, the Lions knelt during the national anthem as a form of protest against rhetoric coming out of the White House. "I'm not going to comment too much on (Trump). For me personally, I think the guys in the locker room, we all know how we feel," Stafford told M Live at the time.

A few years later, in 2020, the Lions once again took a knee during the national anthem, but this was highly visible because it was during the Thanksgiving Day game. Trump took to Twitter to voice his disapproval. "No thanks!" the former president wrote, per the New York Post. Besides his feelings on Trump, during his time with the Lions Stafford also had an interesting quote about another president, Barack Obama.

After Matthew Stafford won the Super Bowl, a White House staffer shared an intriguing quote made by the NFL star in 2012. Gene Sperling, the White House American Rescue coordinator, shared a story about the time Stafford visited the West Wing for a financial literacy event while Barack Obama was in office. When Stafford was informed by Sperling that Obama was not at the White House, the then-Detroit Lions quarterback's reply seemed nearly-prophetic in hindsight. "He said 'No worries. There's only one way an NFL QB should ever get to come to WH and meet the President,'" Sperling recalled on Twitter. "His moment has come," the White House staffer added. It has long been tradition for championship teams to visit the White House and meet the president.

In preparation for meeting the Los Angeles Rams, President Joe Biden took to Twitter after their big win. "Congrats to the @RamsNFL on your Super Bowl victory — I look forward to having you at the White House," Biden wrote shortly after the game's thrilling finish. POTUS also tagged the Second Gentleman of the United States, Kamala Harris's husband Doug Emhoff, in his post. This was a nod to Emhoff hailing from Los Angeles, per Fan Sided.

It is possible that were Biden not in office, the Rams would be less excited about their presidential visit. "If President Donald Trump invites them to the White House, they have to decline. They shouldn't go," the Los Angeles Times opined during the team's playoff run in 2019.