Foto: James Gilbert
Kelly Stafford, the wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, said publicly revealing her husband's struggles to jell with younger teammates was "probably the worst thing I've done" in relation to him.
The football wife addressed her comments made on a recent episode of her The Morning After With Kelly Stafford podcast in an exclusive interview with Local 4 in Detroit on Thursday (August 31), which is scheduled to air on Friday (September 1).
“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,” Kelly said via ClickOnDetroit.com. “That was tough. I say all the time, probably not the best if your wife’s name is in the media, if it’s talking about sports. I felt pretty bad last week,” Kelly added. “I put my foot in my mouth pretty good last week.”
Matthew Stafford, 35, is entering his 15th NFL season, which will be his third with the Rams, having guided the franchise to a victory in Super Bowl LVI during his first season before being limited to just nine starts due to a shoulder injury in 2022. The Rams' win-now front office moves in 2021 led to the ensuing losses of several notable free agents and a significant turnover, with only veteran defensive lineman Aaron Donald and middle linebacker Ernest Jones representing the returning defensive players from the Super Bowl LVI team.
Los Angeles, which had previously been limited in recent drafts due to trading picks for veteran stars, selected 14 players in the 2023 NFL Draft, after taking an opposite approach to by trading veterans to acquire picks.
"They say 'sir' to him and s---," Kelly Stafford said on her podcast. "He's like, 'No, we're on the same level here, we're both playing in the league. Let me get to know you.' He said it's so different and so hard to get to know these guys. He had a book printed out. 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.' We need to talk, so I'm gonna find their names and I'm gonna say, 'Hey so-and-so, how was your weekend?' So, they know I know them and maybe we should get to know each other so there's chemistry on the field.'
"But I think nowadays, it's really hard to develop that because all these young kids, they don't care. Or it's not that they don't care, but they're so used to going straight to their phones instead of having some fun with some guys in the locker room. It's different. It's kind of sad."
Stafford was selected No. 1 overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft, when many of his younger teammates were still in elementary school. The Rams were reported to have had the youngest average age in the NFL at 24.6, which included the 35-year-old quarterback and had 68 players aged 25 or younger, the most among all NFL teams, prior to their final roster cut down last month, according to TurfShowTimes.com.
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