National Football League

Lions QB Stafford stranded, delayed by Southfield bridge collapse

Published Sep. 26, 2014 12:20 p.m. ET

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Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was one of the first motorists early Friday morning to drive up on the debris left by a pedestrian bridge collapsing on the Southfield Freeway, not far from the Lions' practice facility in Allen Park.

Stafford, who was stranded for a while before being picked up by another employee of the Lions and driven to the team's headquarters, was unharmed and practiced later in the morning.

"I was probably two to three minutes behind (the bridge collapsing)," Stafford told reporters. "It was weird to look at, you don't expect to see a bridge down.

"When I pulled up to it, it seemed like he (the driver of the truck) had gotten out and was laying on the embankment (as police were arriving)."

Stafford also said he got fined by his teammates "for making the news (casts)."

Roop Raj, a reporter for the FOX television affiliate in Detroit, tweeted a photo of Stafford walking along the side of the road near the incident.

"I hate being late for practice," Stafford said, according to Raj.

The bridge fell onto the freeway after being hit by a truck. The driver of the truck was killed in the accident.

"We had a number of players that were sort of delayed a bit coming in, and coaches as well," coach Jim Caldwell said. "Fortunately, I had just gone by that same section maybe 15 or 20 minutes prior to that, somewhere between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. (Defensive coordinator) Teryl Austin wasn't too far behind me.

"By the time we got to the facility, we had heard about it and found out that Matthew was right there at the front of the line that was stopped. He always gets in here really early as well, but no one had any injuries or anything of that nature."

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