In a sensational rookie campaign, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud played at a level far beyond his years.
However, the 22-year-old Stroud can still be a kid at heart sometimes.
He did his best not to be one during joint practices with the Los Angeles Rams when he got to meet Matthew Stafford, who Stroud admitted to being a big fan of growing up.
“Just how he manipulates guys with his eyes, his drops, his arm angles, I have been a fan of Matthew Stafford for a long time,” Stroud said Thursday, via team transcript. “I wasn’t trying to be a fan boy today, but I asked him a lot of questions. I tried to just learn, and he was really honest with me and wasn’t mean, which I appreciate, so I am definitely a huge fan of his. Definitely one of my favorite quarterbacks of all time. I feel like sharing a field with him was dope.”
Stafford, 36, apparently has a far larger fanbase than he realized, as Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams recently let his appreciation for Stafford be known, too, and Stroud is clearly an admirer.
"It's humbling,” Stafford said Thursday, via team transcript. “I remember being in their shoes thinking the same thing about [Hall of Fame QB] Brett Favre and [Hall of Fame QB] Peyton Manning when I got to go against those guys at the beginning of my career. I'm not putting myself in that same breath, but the older guys. It was a really cool experience. I'll never forget playing Brett when he was in Minnesota and I was in Detroit, and he came up to me and was like, 'Hey man, I'm a big fan.' I'm like, 'You can't say that to me, right? I'm the fan of you. I've been watching you play for forever.’ So, it is cool. It's humbling that these guys are paying attention and as big of fans as they might be of me, I wish nothing but the best for those guys.”
Stafford won’t play in the Rams’ preseason finale and it’s unclear -- and unlikely -- Stroud will see the field.
Nonetheless, it was a mutual admiration get-together at practice.
“I'm a huge fan of watching him play,” Stafford said of Stroud. “Throws the ball with ease, plays with like a really calm aggression.
“He plays at a really high level, especially for a young kid. They have a lot of talent around him which is a lot of fun to watch and he does a great job of getting those guys the ball."
Stroud and Stafford’s ability to sling it has clearly garnered praise from each of them and plenty others, regardless of if they're in between or outside the lines.
For Stroud, though, the attribute that initially had him rooting for Stafford was the former Detroit Lions quarterback’s noted durability.
“First what jumped out to me from him was his toughness,” Stroud said. “He is tough as nails. I remember watching him on mic'd up and he broke his shoulder or something weird like that and he finished the drive. His shoulder ended up falling out of place and I respect that because it is not easy.”
Playing quarterback in the NFL is most certainly not an easy endeavor. And, as the adage goes, game recognizes game, no matter the age difference.