ALLEN PARK — Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford just avoided injury this morning when a pedestrian bridge collapsed onto the Southfield Freeway. 

Stafford’s Range Rover was the first to stop behind the bridge that was down, blocking all traffic in both directions.

Stafford was on his way to the Lions practice facility about 5:45 a.m. when the Cathedral Street overpass collapsed after it was hit by a garbage truck. The driver of the truck was killed.

Stafford called Elton Moore, the Lions director of security, who made his way to the scene using service drives. Moore’s cellphone photo showed police cars next to Stafford’s Range Rover.

Moore gave Stafford the keys to his car so he could get to work and stayed with Stafford’s vehicle and drove it back to the facility.

Moore said as they were walking away from the incident, people were shaking their heads at the scene on the freeway and a few of them recognized Stafford.

Moore said that Stafford was the only Lions’ player affected by the fatal accident which is a few miles north of the practice facility.

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