Kelly Stafford, wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, revealed the one piece of advice she wished she had received when she entered the world of the NFL.
In a recent interview, the host of the podcast “Morning After” recalled losing herself after listening to other people’s opinions about her appearance and personality.
“I wish someone had told me when I first started here, ‘Don’t lose yourself,'” Kelly said in a recent interview with E! News. “I would say, ‘Don’t try to become the person that everyone else expects you to be,’ because that’s exactly what I did and I lost who I was. And that’s personality, looks, everything.
“Everyone will tell you how you should look, what you should say and what you shouldn’t say, all these things. And when you start listening to that, you lose the values and everything that you have that makes you who you are and what makes you the person your husband fell in love with.
“You can’t completely block out the noise, but try to listen to yourself first before listening to others.”
Kelly warned that she is not in a position to give advice to other players’ wives – including Taylor Swift, who is dating Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes – “because I’ve screwed up so many times.”
The mother of four has faced severe criticism on several occasions for her comments about football and her relationship with Matthew.
Kelly made headlines in June when she recalled dating Matthew’s backup quarterback in college just to make him jealous.
Kelly had previously come under criticism for saying the Super Bowl-winning quarterback would have difficulty connecting with his younger teammates on the Rams in August 2023.
Kelly spoke in an emotional episode of her podcast “Morning After” in April about dealing with imposter syndrome and what it feels like to be in her husband’s shadow.
The two first met in college at the University of Georgia, where Matthew was a star quarterback and Kelly was a cheerleader for the Bulldogs.
They married in 2015 and have four daughters together: twins Sawyer and Chandler, both 7, Hunter, 6, and Tyler, 4
Kelly will be touring with her podcast this fall on the “Cleat Chaser Tour,” which kicks off September 7 in Detroit.
The name is derived from a nickname she said she received while studying at the University of Georgia.
