Matthew Stafford to appear on NFL’s “Schedule Release” special on Wednesday

It’s exciting when a team adds a quarterback like Matthew Stafford to the roster. It is more than exciting when that same team also has Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey and reached a relatively recent Super Bowl. For the NFL, it is the most exciting when that franchise also debuted a $5 billion stadium in 2020 but didn’t get a chance to show it off to any fans.

That will change in 2021 and we can probably expect the LA Rams to be heavily featured in the NFL’s primetime schedule next season.

The NFL is staying on brand and overdoing the hype around an offseason event, this time the announcement of the schedule. Who can blame them? Schedule-related content has long been one of the most attractive clicks to football fans. Now they’re putting a whole NFL Network evening around the release of the 2021 schedule and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford will be involved in the action.

Stafford was listed alongside a few other NFL notables who will be appearing on the NFL Network’s Schedule Release ‘21 special on Wednesday at 8 PM ET.

The 2021 NFL Schedule powered by AWS will be released on Wednesday, May 12 at 8:00 PM ET on NFL Network, NFL.com and the NFL app.

NFL Network’s coverage is highlighted by Schedule Release ‘21 Presented by Verizon at 8:00 PM ET, a three-hour show which breaks down the 2021 NFL regular season schedule, division by division, analyzing the top matchups and primetime games.

The NFL GameDay Morning crew anchors Schedule Release ‘21, with 2021 Sports Emmy nominee Rich Eisen joined by analysts Kurt Warner, Michael Irvin and Steve Mariucci from inside SoFi Stadium – site of Super Bowl LVI – along with Colleen Wolfe.

Schedule Release ‘21 features live on-location reports from Mike Giardi (Gillette Stadium), Aditi Kinkhabwala (Heinz Field), Kim Jones (MetLife Stadium), Jane Slater (The Star) and Mike Yam (Levi’s Stadium).

Additional coverage on Schedule Release ‘21 is provided by Cynthia Frelund and Joe Thomas, along with Kimmi Chex offering a Fantasy perspective on the 2021 NFL schedule.

Featured guests on Schedule Release ‘21 include:

Play-by-play announcers Jim Nantz (CBS), Al Michaels (NBC) & Joe Buck (FOX)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker

Former Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley will also appear on the special.

Expect the LA Rams to lead or be close to the lead in primetime games in 2021. The NFL is not happy that they didn’t get to have fans at SoFi Stadium or Allegiant Stadium last season and they will not shy away from featuring those expensive new digs on TV this year. Which Rams opponents look most likely to hit the primetime slot?

Any NFC West game makes sense, especially whenever the Seahawks travel to SoFi Stadium.

The Rams will go to Lambeau Field to face the Packers, but will Aaron Rodgers be there?

SoFi Stadium will also be hosting the reigning champion Buccaneers, an obvious candidate to be the NFL’s first regular season game of 2021 if it weren’t for the fact that they typically don’t make the Super Bowl winner go on the road to open the season. It would hype up the SoFi experience more than any other opportunity, however, giving the NFL a full four months to talk about that Week 1 matchup in LA.

The Rams also host Trevor Lawrence and the Jags, Justin Fields and the Bears, Derrick Henry’s Titans, and Stafford’s old Lions teammates.

They go on the road to face the Vikings, Giants, Texans, Colts, and Ravens.