LOS ANGELES — If there's one word to sum up Matthew Stafford's Super Bowl championship, it's probably this -- finally.
After 13 seasons and a team change, Highland Park's own is now an NFL champion.
In a dramatic finish in Sunday's game, Stafford threw a 1-yard pass to Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp to give the Los Angeles Rams the go-ahead touchdown with 1:25 left in the game. The Rams defense sealed with 23-20 win against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"That last drive was a special drive, one that I'll never forget," Stafford said during a postgame news conference.
It wasn't all perfect for Stafford, but he finished with 283 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
A change of scenery seemed to be what Stafford needed after spending 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions after being drafted from the University of Georgia. He was traded to the Rams in 2021 and now he's an NFL champ.
Being a champion, however, is nothing new to the former Highland Park Scot. In 2005, he led Highland Park High School to an undefeated season and the Class 4A Division 1 state title.
In 2014 when WFAA visited with Randy Allen, Stafford's high school coach, he said the quarterback was the best player he ever coached.
"He would throw the ball with such velocity it would make a noise in the air. You could hear it spinning," Allen said.
Along with Stafford, North Texas has a lot to be proud of as other Rams players from the area were part of the Super Bowl win: LB Von Miller (DeSoto); LB Travin Howard (TCU); OL Joe Noteboom (Plano/TCU); DL A'Shawn Robinson (Fort Worth Arlington Heights); DL Bobby Brown (Arlington Lamar); OL Bobby Evans (Allen); LB Justin Hollins (Arlington Martin).