LOS ANGELES — The first play of Sunday’s Super Bowl came 13 months earlier, when Matthew Stafford texted his wife, “Well, here we go,” and walked into a meeting with Lions president Rod Wood and, via speakerphone, owner Sheila Ford Hamp.
The Lions were searching for a head coach and general manager. At age 32, the quarterback had two years left on his contract and didn’t want to go through another rebuild.
