Stafford to be NFL’s No. 1 draft pick

Family members and former Georgia teammates will be on hand Saturday afternoon as quarterback Matthew Stafford becomes the NFL’s No. 1 draft pick.

Any doubt about whether Stafford would be the top pick ended late Friday night, when he and the Detroit Lions agreed on contract terms that ensure the Lions making his the first name called when the draft begins at 4 p.m. in New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

Enlarge this image

AP

The six-year deal Matthew Stafford’s agents and the Lions agreed to Friday night is worth a guaranteed $41.7 million.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

On hand will be Stafford’s parents, grandmother, sister, high school coach and UGA roommates Kris Durham, Shaun Chapas and Fred Munzenmaier.

The day will be the culmination of a lifelong dream for Stafford — and lucrative validation of his decision in January to forgo his final year of eligibility at Georgia to enter the NFL draft.

“He told me [at the time] that he loves it at Georgia and would love to come back for another season,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said this week. “But he said - and I understood - that it’d probably be unrealistic to think his draft status could improve next year.”

Stafford was certainly right about that.

The six-year deal his agents and the Lions agreed to Friday night is worth a guaranteed $41.7 million — and as much as $78 million if Stafford receives all non-guaranteed money and incentive bonuses over the course of the contract.

It’s a pretty good haul for a guy who flew coach from Atlanta to New York a couple of days ago.

The deal tops the six-year, $72-million ($34.75 million guaranteed) contract that quarterback Matt Ryan, last year’s No. 3 pick, got from the Atlanta Falcons. And Stafford’s deal is believed to call for more guaranteed dollars than any in NFL history.

Stafford became a big fan of Ryan’s last fall, often watching Falcons games and marveling over the steady way in which the rookie quarterback led the team.

While Ryan had a daunting task — taking over a team reeling from the Michael Vick scandal — Stafford faces perhaps a tougher task: The Lions last season were the first team in NFL history to go 0-16.

But Stafford has consistently said, even before entering the draft, that he would relish the challenge of trying to turn around the Lions.

The Lions began intense negotiations with Stafford’s agents, Tom Condon and Ben Dogra, on Wednesday. The team had a backup deal virtually in place with another possible No. 1 pick, Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry, in case the Stafford negotiations went awry. But after three days — and nights — of work, the Stafford deal got done.

In Detroit, Stafford’s primary receiver will be former Georgia Tech star Calvin Johnson, who was selected No. 2 overall by the Lions in the 2007 draft — the highest a Tech player has ever been drafted.

Stafford will become the first UGA player in more than a half-century — and just the fourth ever — to be drafted No. 1 by the NFL.

Not since the San Francisco 49ers drafted receiver Harry Babcock No. 1 in 1953 — 56 years ago — has a Georgia player been the NFL’s top pick. And only two other UGA players have ever been drafted No. 1: legendary halfbacks Frank Sinkwich in 1943 by the Lions and Charley Trippi in 1945 by the then-Chicago Cardinals.

The strong-armed Stafford, 21, from Highland Park, Texas, went 27-7 as Georgia’s starting quarterback, passing for 7,731 yards and 51 touchdowns.

Richt will have appropriate company today when he watches his QB of the past three seasons get drafted No. 1. As he does each spring, Richt has invited some of his former Georgia and Florida State quarterbacks and their families to Athens for a weekend visit.

“We have a little quarterback Superstars contest,” Richt said recently. “The events are kind of corny, the kind of things an old guy like me can do — bowling, darts, pool, horseshoes, bocce ball.”

They’ll take a break around 4 p.m. to watch Matthew Stafford go to the head of the class.