The first season of Netflix documentary Quarterback (from NFL Films and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions) drew both strong critical reception and large audiences. But despite that, and despite the show’s renewal for a second season, it’s seemingly been difficult to convince new quarterbacks to follow season one figures Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota. The likes of Jalen Hurts, Sam Howell, Justin Fields, and Daniel Jones have all publicly said they don’t want to do the show, and various reports that Joe Burrow is doing it have been disputed by Burrow’s camp, leaving no one officially announced even through Week 1 of this season. But that now seems to have changed, with Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams seemingly on board as per a report Wednesday from Jake Ellenbogen of SB Nation’s Rams blog Turf Show Times:
EXCLUSIVE: #Rams Quarterback Matthew Stafford Set to Star in Season 2 of Netflix series “Quarterback” per source
Full Story: https://t.co/G8wy7rZXgg
Full Video: https://t.co/nfXDSrOk3R pic.twitter.com/RPjTEQEgCL— JAKE ELLENBOGEN (@JKBOGEN) September 13, 2023
Here’s more on that from Ellenbogen’s piece:
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford will be one of the featured stars in the second season of the hit Netflix docuseries “Quarterback”, according to a source in an exclusive report to me and Turf Show Times. The Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the L.A. Rams turned down Netflix and executive producers Peyton Manning and Keith Cossrow for the first season of the show, according to wife Kelly Stafford during a recent episode of her podcast “The Morning After”, but she added that he was open to doing the show depending on the outcome of season one and it appears that he was happy with what he saw.
…But per my source with knowledge of the situation, the Rams QB will be featured in this upcoming season.
A person with knowledge of the situation informed me that Stafford is not only confirmed to be on it, NFL Network has been filming for it now for a week and Stafford was said to be mic’d up in his game against the Seahawks to open the season. It’s already been a storied offseason for Matthew Stafford, from trade rumors to learning how to connect with young teammates, so Netflix is getting its money’s worth from the jump.
As Ellenbogen notes, it’s definitely been an interesting offseason for Stafford. The Rams picked up his 2023 option bonus and 2024 salary in January, a total of $62 million over those years, but there were then quickly discussions that the New York Jets might trade for him if their pursuit of Aaron Rodgers fell through. (And with Rodgers suffering a season-ending injury in Week 1, maybe those conversations come up again with the Netflix cameras rolling.) Other trade rumors popped up around Stafford this offseason as well.
Quarterback also showed off its subjects’ family lives in its first season. And that’s notable with Stafford given his wife Kelly’s comments on her podcast that he “struggles to connect” with younger players. She apologized for that, and Rams’ head coach Sean McVay said those comments were meant as a joke, and Stafford himself said said it’s not an issue. But both that locker room dynamic and Stafford’s home life could show up on the show in interesting ways.
The secrecy around Quarterback has definitely been notable, and Manning has said he would rather the cast wasn’t revealed until close to the show’s release next summer. So we’ll see if other reports come out on who winds up featured in the show (perhaps in particular, will Burrow actually be there, or are all of his camp’s disputes of those reports for real), or if we really do have to wait until the show’s closer to dropping. But it’s certainly significant to see Stafford reported as a S2 focus, especially with so many other pivots turning the show down.
