HIGHLAND PARK (WFAA) -- Whenever the Cowboys and Lions battle as they will on Monday Night Football, there is a small part of Dallas with their rooting interests firmly behind Detroit.
That is because a piece of Detroit has firm roots in Dallas.
“I don’t have any Cowboys jerseys anymore. I am not torn about who I am rooting for,” said Margaret Stafford.
Her son Matthew was a boy of just five-years-old when he received a Troy Aikman uniform as a Christmas gift. His mom remembers how difficult it was getting him to take off the helmet with the blue star on it. Even at a young age, Matthew developed a love and understanding for the game of football.
“He could read plays and he knew exactly what was going on,” said Margaret. “It was amazing. He loved it.”
And he loved the team he is playing against on Monday night. In fact, the Staffords and many football families in Highland Park were caught up in the Dallas Cowboys glory years of the 1990’s. But that quickly changed when Matthew Stafford was selected with the number one overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Longtime friends Pan Lucas and Jake Feldt were there with him the night before the Lions chose him as their franchise quarterback.
“He got a phone call and left and then came back and sat down,” remembered Feldt. “We said ‘what’s the deal?’ He said ‘I am going number one.”
The loyalty towards Stafford in Highland Park is strong enough for many to change their team allegiance whenever the Lions and Cowboys play. Lucas and Feldt were teammates with Stafford on the 2005 Highland Park Scots football team that won the state title, but their relationships go back even further. It was during an elementary school baseball game when Feldt first noticed Stafford’s talent went above and beyond many of his teammates.
“A kid hit a ball into center field and (Stafford) try to throw him out at first base from center. And this is when he was 11-years-old.”
As the friends grew older, Lucas said Stafford’s ability and potential grew more obvious.
“He was running the spread in 6-man football. Nobody else did that,” said Lucas who has traveled to see Stafford play in Detroit. Even now, the elementary school friendship is unchanged.
“We were just hanging out on the couch. He is himself for all I can see. And then once he leaves, he is in game mode and that’s when he gets going.”
Feldt has a picture of himself with Stafford and Los Angeles Dodgers Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw, all elementary school-aged, playing in his backyard. Even though his two friends have become big names playing big games, it has not changed the way Feldt views them.
“Those are just guys I grew up with. It is unusual? Yes, but Matthew and Clayton are just two of my buddies who are great guys.”