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Lions fans in N.Y. mixed on Matthew Stafford pick

NEW YORK – It isn’t hard to find Lions fans here. About 3 1/2 hours before the NFL draft, two were standing right across 6th Avenue from Radio City Music Hall.

They were pumped, right? After all, they had come all the way from the Detroit area to see the Lions draft their first No. 1 pick since Oklahoma running back Billy Sims in 1980. They were going to see the Lions take Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, who went to the same high school as Bobby Layne.

“Well, I would have preferred to see just about anything else,” said Andrew Turner, 27, of Ferndale. “But now that he’s here, can’t root against him anymore.”

So will Turner cheer when Stafford shakes the hand of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell?

“I don’t know,” Turner said, laughing. “That’s a tough one. I’ll have to wait to see how it hits me.”

Turner is such a devoted fan, he was wearing a No. 81 Calvin Johnson jersey – the new one just unveiled Monday. Doesn’t he want a quarterback who can get the ball to Johnson?

“Well, I want to make sure the jersey’s good in a few years,” Turner said.

Turner would have preferred Baylor left tackle Jason Smith. His buddy Shawn Palmer, 27, of Troy, would have preferred someone like Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry.

“I wanted to draft defense, defense, defense, being the second-worst defense ever last year going 0-16,” Palmer said. “Drafting Stafford, the kid doesn’t even have a chance.

“You’re basically ending his career before it even starts because you can’t protect the guy, have a defense to give him good field position. He’s always going to be playing from behind and he’s not going to have a chance to really mature, just like every other quarterback that we’ve drafted.”

Not everyone is anti-Stafford, though.

Zach Kadolph, 23, of Frankenmuth, was walking in Times Square wearing an old No. 11 Roy Williams jersey. Today is his birthday. Is Stafford a birthday present or the equivalent of coal in the stocking at Christmas?

“No, he’s definitely a birthday present,” Kadolph said. “You wish that Drew Stanton would have had a better shot. But at the same point, if he’s got a good arm, he’s got a good work ethic and watches a lot of film, I’d rather take a guy now.”

LINK >> Lions fans in N.Y. mixed on Matthew Stafford pick | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

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