Matthew Stafford ends record-tying
longest wait for first-team AP NFL All-Pro honor
[January 12, 2026]
By JOSH DUBOW
Matthew Stafford has spent a career accumulating staggering numbers
with more than 64,000 yards passing, more than 400 TD passes and a
Super Bowl title.
One accolade he hadn't achieved until this season was being named a
first-team AP NFL All-Pro. Stafford was picked for the team on
Saturday, ending the longest wait ever for a quarterback to get that
honor for the first time.
Stafford just completed his 17th season in the NFL since being
drafted first overall by Detroit in 2009, eclipsing Fran Tarkenton's
15-year wait for his first All-Pro honor in 1975.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two other players had
waited 15 years or more for their first All-Pro selection with
Stafford tying kicker Gary Anderson for the longest wait. Anderson
was also named All-Pro in his 17th season in 1998 when he made all
35 field goal tries and 59 extra points in the regular season before
missing a potential game-sealing kick that helped cost Minnesota in
the NFC title game.
The All-Pro selection could also boost Stafford's Hall of Fame case.
No modern quarterback has ever made the Hall without getting one of
these honors: first-team All-Pro; AP NFL MVP; AP NFL Offensive
Player of the Year or Super Bowl MVP.
Stafford now has one and could add another when the MVP is announced
at NFL Honors on Feb. 5. From 2013-23, the first-team All-Pro
quarterback also won the MVP but that streak was snapped last year
when Josh Allen won the MVP after Lamar Jackson was picked as the
All-Pro.
Stafford got 31 of the 50 first-place votes from the same panel that
picks MVP with New England's Drake Maye getting 18 and Allen one.
Stafford was named on 49 ballots with 18 second-place votes, while
Maye was on 47 ballots with 29 second-place votes.
The 37-year-old Stafford was the old man on an All-Pro team that had
a strong youthful bent with 22-year-old slot cornerback Cooper
DeJean the youngest on the squad. Twelve other of the 31 players to
get first-team honors are 25 or younger, with 12 more others between
ages 26 and 29.
The only other thirtysomething besides Stafford were edge rusher
Myles Garrett, who turned 30 late last month; 32-year-old safety
Kevin Byard; 33-year-old offensive linemen Garett Bolles and Joe
Thuney; and 34-year-old fullback Kyle Juszczyk.
Broncos lead the way
The AFC's top-seeded Denver Broncos also had the most All-Pros.
Denver had a franchise record-tying four first-team selections —
double the total of the next highest team — with offensive linemen
Garett Bolles and Quinn Meinerz; defensive tackle Zach Allen and
special teams standout Devon Key getting picked.
The only other seasons when the Broncos had four first-team
selections were 1977 when the team made its first Super Bowl and
1996.
Among the other playoff teams with multiple first-teamers were the
Rams with Stafford joined by prolific receiver Puka Nacua; San
Francisco' with its backfield of Christian McCaffrey (all purpose)
and fullback Juszczyk; Houston led by defenders Will Anderson Jr.
and Derek Stingley Jr.; and Chicago with left guard Joe Thuney and
safety Kevin Byard.
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Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws a pass
during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game
against the Carolina Panthers, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in
Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
The Eagles got second-year cornerback Quinyon
Mitchell and second-year slot cornerback DeJean on the first team.
It marked the seventh team that a team had its top two picks from a
draft class earn first-team All-Pro honors within their first two
NFL seasons, with Indianapolis the last to do it when Quenton Nelson
and Shaquille Leonard made it as rookies in 2018.
Three of the nine teams with multiple first-team All-Pros came from
teams that missed the playoffs, including three-win Tennessee
getting defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and rookie punt returner
Chimere Dike getting picked. Detroit had right tackle Penei Sewell
and linebacker Jack Campbell; while Baltimore had safety Kyle
Hamilton and punter Jordan Stout.
Five teams had no first or second-team selections with the Carolina
Panthers the only playoff team without one after winning the NFC
South with an 8-9 record. The other four also had losing records
with Las Vegas, the New York Jets, Tampa Bay and Washington getting
shut out.
Patriots shut out on first team
The New England Patriots finished tied for the best record in the
NFL with Denver and Seattle but had no first-team All-Pros to show
for it.
The Patriots became the first team since the AP began awarding
All-Pro honors in 1940 to win at least 14 games in a season and have
no first-team picks.
New England did have two second-team selections with Maye getting
the spot at quarterback and Marcus Jones at punt returner.
The Patriots came close to an All-Pro shutout in 2016 after winning
14 games but Matthew Slater made it as the special teams player.
That New England team went on to win the Super Bowl.
Rare rookie makes All-Pro
Dike was the only rookie to earn first-team All-Pro honors this
season after averaging 17.3 yards per punt return with two
touchdowns.
He became the fourth rookie since 2000 to earn All-Pro honors with
the three others among the best in the league at their positions.
Las Vegas tight end Brock Bowers pulled it off last season, with
Sauce Gardner doing it in 2022 and Micah Parsons in 2021.
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