Quarterback Matthew Stafford’s wife, Kelly Stafford, is clarifying her comments about watching her four young daughters seemingly get booed during a recent Los Angeles Rams football game.
“I didn’t know if I should post this video or not because I truly don’t wanna dwell on what happened,” Kelly, 34, wrote via her Instagram Story on Thursday, January 18, sharing footage from the game. “This was our experience on the field.”
She added, “I know you are booing me, but my kids don’t know the difference even if I try to explain it to them. The whole scenario is hard to accept but not as hard as the questioning of my integrity. It happened, own it and let’s move on.”
Kelly took her four daughters — twins Sawyer and Chandler, both 6, Hunter, 4 and Tyler, 2 — to watch her husband’s team face off against the Detroit Lions in the NFL playoffs on Sunday, January 14. The Stafford girls greeted Matthew, 35, on the sidelines ahead of kickoff, wearing matching shirts that read “Born in Detroit, Raised in L.A.” (The kids were born in Michigan while Matthew was the QB for the Lions before he was traded to the Rams in 2021.)
As Kelly and her daughters approached the field, a bevy of spirited Lions fans started booing them.
“It’s sports. The city wants to win. Everything is fair game … excerpt the fans who booed my children,” she wrote via her Instagram Story on Monday, January 15. “Other than that I loved the atmosphere and the booing gave my husband more fire. The more you love, the more you hate. I consider it all love going both ways.”
Lions fans have since asserted online that they were actually booing Matthew and Kelly because of his position on the opposing team. (The Lions, led by quarterback Jared Goff, ultimately beat the Rams and knocked them out of championship eligibility.)
Kelly’s shady remarks toward Lions supporters sparked backlash, but other NFL families have come to understand that being booed is a part of the game.
“I think you expect it. Fans are going to love their team at all costs, and I don’t take it personally,” Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 17, of how he and wife Julie Hampton handle similar game day situations. “It’s just fans who love their team and it’s part of the fun of it all is getting excited, so you prepare yourself for it.”
He continued: “You don’t have expectations that are unrealistic, and then when they ultimately do boo [you] or whatever it may be, you kind of shrug your shoulders and say, ‘Hey, fans got to be fans, and that’s part of it.’”
