Red Flags In Matthew Stafford's Marriage
Kelly and Matthew Stafford's love story began nearly two decades ago when the pair first fell in love at the University of Georgia. Kelly was a cheerleader while Matthew played quarterback, making their storybook romance something out of a Taylor Swift song. Their whirlwind love affair took the college sweethearts across the nation, from the Peach State up north to Detroit after the NFL player was signed with the Detroit Lions. An Atlanta wedding, four daughters, and a trade to the Los Angeles Rams later, the pair are still going strong to this day.
The couple haven't had a seamless relationship in the spotlight, however, and have weathered several challenges amid Matthew's intense career. Kelly underwent a 12-hour procedure to remove a brain tumor in 2019, making a full recovery weeks later. She also opened up about her struggles to conceive a child throughout their marriage, and the pair's decision to undergo IVF. Their trials and tribulations seemed to all be worth it a few years later, however, when the pair came together to celebrate Matthew and his 2022 Super Bowl win with the Rams.
A career in the NFL means learning to dodge a fair share of controversy, and Kelly and Matthew Stafford are no strangers to a few of their own. Kelly is known for speaking her mind, and the couple have made headlines several times on behalf of comments she's made to the press. Could there be cracks in this picture-perfect romance? We're breaking down the red flags in Matthew Stafford's marriage.
Kelly Stafford dated the backup quarterback to make Matthew jealous
Everyone knows the age-old trick of dating your ex's friend or teammate out of revenge. Back in college, Kelly Stafford admitted she lived the experience, as she briefly dated one of Matthew's peers while on a break with her then-boyfriend. In an interview with KFC Radio, the registered nurse revealed she and her beau were on separate pages while dating at the University of Georgia.
"Our college relationship was you know, the typical ... [college relationship] where there wasn't really one ... because he didn't want one," she said. She added that the two had a love-and-hate relationship, with Kelly having to get creative to lock down her on-again-off-again boyfriend. "We were all over the place," she confessed, adding, "... I dated the backup [quarterback] to piss him off."
The revenge ploy paid off, however, as it landed her back in Matthew's good graces. And, Kelly joked about the backup quarterback, "I don't think he saw the field after that." The pair's relationship came to a head after the former UGA quarterback decided to leave college early to participate in the NFL draft, after which the mother-of-four says things between the two became more serious.
Nowadays, the registered nurse looks back on their college days with a smile. "In the end, I always tell him we ended up together and we had to go through all of it," she said, adding, "So the backup had to happen... I mean it got his attention."
Matthew Stafford was criticized for refusing to help someone in need
Matthew Stafford may have led the Los Angeles Rams to the 2022 Super Bowl victory, but he was embroiled in controversy not long after. While celebrating the win over the Cincinnati Bengals at the Rams Super Bowl Parade later that month, Stafford and his wife Kelly witnessed photographer Kelly Smiley fall from the stage directly in front of them. In the viral video posted by ABC7, Kelly watches in shock as the photographer falls from the platform, and Matthew seems to turn around and avoid addressing the accident.
Smiley ended up with a fractured spine, and Matthew was knee-deep in social media posts bashing his split-second reaction (or lack thereof), to the scary incident. The couple addressed the issue on Kelly's podcast "The Morning After" (via New York Post), admitting that the photographer had offered to tack a picture of the pair and lost her footing. "When she offered, she stepped back and fell," Kelly said. "And it was an awful, awful moment. Matthew looked at me and said, 'Check her please,' and turned around."
Kelly went on to add that Matthew personally reached out to the photographer to cover her medical bills over the ordeal and replace her equipment. "Yeah, I mean, that obviously happened really quickly and suddenly and unexpectedly, and wish I had a better reaction in the moment," said Matthew. He went on to reveal he apologized to Smiley, adding, "One of those things you try to train your reactions to be a little bit better next time."
Kelly Stafford was embroiled in a racism debate
Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick sparked a major movement in 2016 when he knelt during the National Anthem to protest against racism. Many players joined with him in their stance, sparking a nationwide conversation about race in the United States and whether the anthem represents the American people. Kelly Stafford spoke out on Instagram amidst the controversy, sharing the quote: "The anthem is not the national police song. The anthem is not the national racists song," she continued, "The anthem is an exercise in how this country can endure and rise, how we can agree on its future potential, even while struggling with its present."
After proudly supporting the National Anthem's message on social media, Kelly later backtracked her original message. The podcast host took to Instagram in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement after receiving backlash for her previous statements. "When Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem, I had strong feelings about it. Even when he kept saying it had nothing to do with the flag or military, I didn't listen," she explained, adding that the political climate persuaded her to think kneeling dishonored the military. "Over the past several months, I have opened my ears, mind, and heart and it has opened my eyes to see how wrong I was and for that I am sorry," she added.
In September 2020, Kelly's husband Matthew joined the movement. He took a knee as the National Anthem played before the Detroit Lions took on the Chicago Bears.
Kelly Stafford called out her husband's league
Kelly Stafford wasn't the biggest fan of the league after releasing a COVID-19 list that included Matthew's name in 2020, only to later remove the quarterback for a false positive. She aired her grievances on Instagram, writing, "Even after we knew it was a false positive, our school told us (the kids) were not allowed back, I was approached in a grocery store and told I was 'endangering others.'" She continued, "My kids were harassed and kicked off a playground, I was told I needed to wait in my car when trying to pick up food, and people closest to us had to get tested just so they could go back to work ... and that's just to name a few things."
The podcast host took a shot at the NFL for publishing the false positive, saying, "I blame the NFL for not holding themselves accountable. These are people's lives and livelihoods that are in those results in THEIR sites. Maybe we should be absolutely positive a person has COVID before releasing that info to the world."
The NFL is prohibited from commenting on player's test results, but their decision to safely quarantine players resulted in the COVID-19 list, and of course, Kelly's frustrations. According to The Athletic, the NFL changed their protocols after Matthew's false positives, allowing asymptomatic players who received a positive test after subsequent negative to take two more tests within a day to determine eligibility.
His wife called Michigan a dictatorship
Kelly Stafford's COVID-19 rant continued in November 2020 when she slammed the living conditions in Michigan. At the time, the family of six was living in the state as Matthew played quarterback for the Lions. At the time, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had paused all in-person school activities, indoor dining services, and bar operations, as well as put a temporary closure on several local businesses.
The mother of four took to Instagram (per The Detroit News) to blast the restrictive measures. "I'm so over it," Kelly started in a string of videos she posted at the time. "I'm so over living in a dictatorship that we call Michigan. I understand there's a pandemic, and I understand it's very scary. I'm scared of it, too. If you are at risk, do not leave your house until there's a vaccine."
Stafford then defended the number of small businesses in the area, likening the state of Michigan to a totalitarian rule. "Shutting down all these small businesses, things that people have worked their life for, shutting them down again is not the answer, because they will not make it [...] once this dictatorship decides to let us have some freedom, there will be nothing left."
After catching flack for her divisive commentary, Kelly posted another video to her Instagram Story to apologize for her choice of words. "I have a friend losing their business, and it's just getting to me a little bit, so I apologize for calling it a dictatorship," she explained.
Kelly Stafford isn't afraid to make controversial comments online
Kelly Stafford is not one to hold her tongue, especially when it comes to supporting her man on the football field. In 2019 Stafford slammed an animated Instagram photo posted by the official NFL account (per New York Post) which featured Aaron Rodgers and teammates celebrating alongside the caption "The @packers defend home field on MNF to get to 5-1 on the season." The mother of four seemed to allude to what fans thought could be a missed pass interference call involving Lions receiver Marvin Jones. "They are missing their most valuable players of the night in this picture..." she wrote on the photo, appearing to allude to what she felt was poor officiating by the referees.
In 2021 Stafford was at it again when she took to her Instagram Stories to defend the Detroit Lions yet again. The game in question involved a narrow loss by the Lions against the Minnesota Vikings, which many believe could have turned out differently if not for a crucial roughing-the-passer call against a Lions player. The call happened in the fourth quarter on a 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line, when Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was tackled by Lions safety Tracy Walker before throwing the ball. Several fans saw it as a clean play, including Stafford. "Do refs get fined for bulls—t calls? If not, they 10000% should," she posted to her Instagram Stories at the time (per X).
Pretzel Gate
Kelly Stafford's temper got the best of her while watching her husband play for the Rams, and she resolved it with a single pretzel. The mother of four was watching the Rams take on the 49ers in 2021 when a rowdy fan began to troll the section she was in. As per TMZ, Stafford threw a pretzel at the man after he continued to talk trash directly behind her. Levi's Stadium security proceeded to escort Stafford and her entourage away from the area to watch the rest of the game in a different section.
After a Rams fan took to social media to express her distaste over the debacle, the podcast host responded with her apology. "Who do you think you are to do such a thing?" the fan asked, to which Stafford replied, "...Girl I [know], I'm an idiot. He was saying a bunch of things that were aggressive towards our crew but zero excuse." She ultimately owned up to her behavior and admitted she attempted to apologize to the fan for doing something she knew was wrong. "Will always stand up for my guy and everyone I love, but obviously needed to do it completely different!" she continued, adding, "I'm embarrassed too! Sorry you had to witness me in my weak moment!"
In the end, no police were called over the incident. Stafford might think twice about her selection of snacks while watching the game, however. After all, who would want a basket of cheese fries thrown at them?
Kelly Stafford aired out her husband's dirty laundry
Kelly Stafford made some jaw-dropping comments about her husband's struggle to connect with his teammates on the Rams. After playing 12 seasons for Detroit, it wasn't an easy adjustment for Matthew to put on a Rams uniform in 2021. On an episode of "The Morning After with Kelly Stafford" (per People), Stafford spoke about Matthew's difficulties connecting with the rookies on his team.
"He said it's so different and so hard to get to know these guys. He had a book printed out," Kelly explained. "He had the equipment guy get a book printed of all their faces, and all their names, 'cause he's like, 'I need to know their names.'" Those comments were quick to make headlines, leaving Kelly between a rock and a hard place with her husband and his career.
The mother of four addressed her choice of words in an interview with Detriot news station Local 4 (6:33 TS), admitting that her statements were "probably the worst thing I've done when it comes to [Matthew]." She went on to add, " I spoke on a topic that I think, it's relatable, to the fact that it's hard to relate to someone who is 10 years younger than you. And I do think that's entirely true. But I'm not in an NFL locker room; I'm not spending every day with these teammates," she concluded. Matthew also moved on from the incident, telling ESPN, "I think those guys understand where I'm coming from."
Matthew Stafford felt disconnected to his wife
Matthew and Kelly Stafford's marriage experienced many ups and downs during their nearly two decades together. But the two have always managed to come out the other side stronger.
In an interview with USA Today, Kelly admitted she received a wake-up call from her husband when he called her about midway through the 2022 season with the LA Rams. "I was like, 'Are you OK?', Kelly recalled. "He was like, 'Honestly, no.'" While the two had already gone through their fair share of challenges, including 12 seasons without a Lions playoff game win, infertility, and Kelly's brain tumor, Matthew had felt out of touch with the partner he had overcome all of those challenges with.
"'I feel like the last person on your list right now,'" Kelly remembered her husband telling her. "'I'm the last person that you come to. I'm the last person that you respond to.'" The mother of four proceeded to buy a personal phone after feeling overwhelmed by excessive texts and requests from those outside her inner circle. "Honestly, it's the best advice I've gotten," Kelly confessed. "It's been a game changer for me. Because now when I look down at my phone, I have three texts, from Matthew and my mom, from people I love and people I want to respond to, need to respond to," she added.