Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford eager to scare up another Halloween get-together

The Rams play at Houston on Halloween this season, but the game is in the morning on the West Coast. That’s good news for their new quarterback, because the players could be home in time to enjoy the nighttime festivities.

It was tradition in Detroit that Matthew Stafford and his wife, Kelly, would have a huge Halloween party at the home and awarded generous prizes – often gift cards to upscale restaurants – to the people with the best costumes.

The event started small, with just four couples early in Stafford’s career, and the first year all the quarterbacks dressed up as Mario Bros. characters. Then it ballooned, and the whole team would come over.

“It was just a way for them to have everyone on the team get together,” recalled Dan Orlovsky, who played behind Stafford for years with the Lions. “I think that’s what it was about.”

Two years in a row, Orlovsky and his wife, Tiffany, won for best costume. Their first winner was dressing up as the so-called wet bandits from “Home Alone,” and the second year their get-ups were even more creative. It was from “The Hangover,” and Orlovsky was Zach Galifianakis’ character, with the bushy beard, the big shades and the Baby Bjorn strapped to his chest with sunglasses. Tiffany was the baby and dangled there all night.

“It was unbelievable,” Stafford recalled in an interview this week with the Los Angeles Times “He showed up at the door and I was like, `All right, I’ll give you the prize right now. Nobody’s beating that.’ He was a good sport, man. They’d be on the dance floor or whatever it was, and she was harnessed up all night. She’s a little lady, no doubt.”

Stafford had some great costumes of his own. In various years, he was Jason from “Friday the 13th;” the wild-haired Jackie Moon, played by Will Ferrell in “Semi-Pro;” and he and Kelly were Benny Rodriguez and “Squints” from “The Sandlot.”

“We held it at my house for quite a while and then the last year we had it, which was two years ago because last year was COVID, we moved it to someplace where we didn’t have to clean up afterward,” Stafford said. “So it was a good family move.”