PASADENA, Calif. – The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Division 13 champion Pasadena High School football team received a big surprise at its annual banquet Wednesday night.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife, Kelly, surprised the program with new uniforms and brand-new equipment for next season, after the school was affected by the Eaton wildfire in Altadena in January. In addition to the school losing uniforms and football equipment in the fire, multiple players lost their homes.
The Staffords will also be providing new uniforms to five area youth football programs.
"It's fun to be a little bit of a part of their team now," Stafford told reporters afterward. "Just happy to be able to do those kinds of things, and it's fun to be around a bunch of young guys that love playing the game and love playing together."
The gesture comes five days after Stafford agreed to terms with the Rams on a contract adjustment.
"I'm excited to be back," Stafford said. "I'm excited to be able to do things like this in a community that I've been in for four years now and hopefully will continue to be in for a long time. I'm definitely excited for the opportunity."
Recognizing the "unique situation" with the fires and how the area and school had gone through a lot, Stafford said he, Kelly and the Rams all worked together to get something done for the Pasadena High program and those area youth teams.
"It's near and dear to my heart," Stafford said. "I love the game of football. It brings us all together, you know, gives us a team to be a part of, and it's fun to be a little bit of a part of their team now... They were excited, which was fun."
Pasadena High head coach Ron Jones said it was "truly a blessing, a big surprise" and "meant the world" that the Rams and the Staffords had them in mind.
Not only did the Staffords make that gesture, Matthew also stuck around and took pictures and talked to every player, coach and support staffer with the Pasadena High program who requested the opportunity – including with the Rams' Super Bowl LVI Lombardi Trophy. Kelly volunteered to take those photos on their phones
"To come to our city, Pasadena, you know, we're not in L.A. We're a suburb outside of L.A.," Jones said. "For them to look to us and ask us for what we need, and to actually come and come through and deliver and actually presented to us personally is a real big deal."
"When I saw Matthew Stafford, I was like, 'Oh yeah,'" said running back Josiah Rucker, who also played linebacker and defensive end for the Bulldogs. "I was just happy."
When it comes to giving back to the greater Los Angeles area since they've become a part of the community, Stafford said there's people that could benefit from some help in any city or any town. This cause was "as obvious as anything to me," he said, noting the local, national and global scale of how many people watched the tragedies caused by January's fires,
"And to have a group of young men and families that were affected by such a tough deal, it just felt right to be providing football equipment for a bunch of guys that want to play football," Stafford said. "And coming from where I come from, and doing what I do, it just felt right, and that's why we're here."
