Matthew Stafford relocates to Arizona

Athens — Matthew Stafford liked Tempe, Ariz., so much when Georgia played out there last fall that he decided to move there.

Well, that and the fact that Athletes’ Performance Incorporated (API) is located there.

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AP

Former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford has moved to Arizona to prepare for the NFL draft.

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The former Bulldogs star quarterback — who led Georgia to a 27-10 victory over Arizona State on Sept. 20 — settled into the warm desert city just outside Phoenix to train for April’s NFL draft. API has been the training center for numerous first-round draft picks and NFL quarterbacks since it opened in 1999. Stafford, who left Georgia after his junior season, is projected as an early first-round selection.

“He moved there a week ago Sunday,” said John Stafford, Matthew’s father and chief string-puller until his son’s management team is put into place. “We played Arizona State out there, and he liked the area when we were there. He’s very close to Sun Devil Stadium where he trains. He’s comfortable with the area and had a little bit of a feel for it.”

As for API, John Stafford said: “We just kind of picked it by reputation. We were told it was a good place to go because NFL quarterbacks have come out of there.”

Matthew Stafford has not returned messages. His father said that’s because Stafford is hunkered down tending to business and training.

John Stafford also said that former Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno is training for the combine in Dallas, the Staffords’ hometown. He said Moreno is working with the Michael Johnson Performance Training Center. Johnson is a former Olympic sprinter.

Stafford is expected to finalize a marketing agreement Thursday or Friday with IMG mega-agent Alan Zucker to handle his off-the-field endorsements, John Stafford said. They haven’t settled on an agent to handle NFL negotiations.

“We’re in the process of that right now,” Stafford said Wednesday. “We are interviewing agents. The process will be to get it down to no more than three, maybe even just a couple, and then Matthew will have an opportunity to choose someone who he feels will best represent him. We’d like to have that done certainly within the next 10 to 14 days, if not sooner.”

Per NFL rules, underclassmen who declared for the draft could not have contact with agents before Jan. 19. “So we’re just beginning the process basically,” Stafford said.