Stafford won’t talk to shrink, so 49ers don’t want him
The 49ers are apparently concerned with quarterback prospect Matthew Stafford because he won’t open up to a psychologist about his parent’s divorce.
A report in the San Francisco Chronicle suggests Stafford was uncomfortable answering questions at the NFL combine last month from a team psychologist regarding his parents’ divorce.
Niners head coach Mike Singletary told KNBR (680 AM) in San Francisco this week that “if you’re going to look at drafting a guy in the first round, and you’re going to pay him millions of dollars, and asking him about a divorce about his parents, if that’s going to be an issue, uhhh, then you know what, maybe he doesn’t belong here.”
Stafford, a potential first-round draft pick, told the Detroit Free Press that the psychologist presumed Stafford had “unfinished business” about his parents’ split in high school.
I guess Singletary has a point in that, if a team is going to pay a prospect millions of dollars in the NFL, then it has a right to know as much about the player as possible. But this is a bit absurd. Stafford is only 21 years old – he’s still a kid. Him not wanting to open up to a stranger about a painful topic doesn’t mean he’s a bad egg or that he has psychological problems. It just means that he’d like to handle the manner in his own way and that doesn’t involve talking to a shrink.
Considering Singletary pulled his pants down in front of his team to make a point during a halftime speech last year, maybe he should be the one seeing a psychologist and not Stafford.
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Tags: 2009 NFL Draft, 49ers don’t want Matthew Stafford, 49ers Matthew Stafford, Matthew Stafford, Matthew Stafford psychologist, Matthew Stafford rumors, Mike Singletary, Mike Singletary comments about Matthew Stafford, Mike Singletary Matthew Stafford, Mike Singletary pulls pants down, San Francisco 49ers
Every day another stupid sports story comes out..Tell me that they gave T O a test and he passed it? Ray Lewis is A-OK?…Somebody asked Plaxico about gun control and he passed?
Apparently they have now learned from grilling those Morons what questions to ask starting with family issues…Good job…
Here’s an novel idea..When they get done talking to the draft picks let’s send them over to Congress and find out what going on inside those heads.
I’m not much of a professional athlete apologist, so I agree with Singletary 100%. Look, he’s not calling out Stafford or saying he doesn’t like they guy, he simply stated that if you’re going to pay a guy millions of dollars, and he can’t give into this simple request, then he’s not right for him. It was nothing personal, Singletary made a comment about his franchise and the people he wants there.
That is a family matter and deserves to be kept private. Sometime these teams get carries away! Strap on the helmet and play some football.
Singletary makes it sound petty that the kid won’t talk about his parent’s divorce, yet how petty is it that he won’t draft a kid because he won’t talk about his parent’s divorce?
Just more NFL hypocrisy.
How petty is it that a team won’t draft a guy who has off field issues? This happens more and more and everyone applauds the team for passing on that guy, “just strap on the helmet and play some football” right? Look, he doesn’t want the guy b/c of this reason, if I’m about to give a guy $20 million, I would DEFINITELY expect him to answer all the questions I have, and jump through the hoops. He’s asking valid questions (in his opinion) that would determine whether Stafford can be a QB in the NFL!