Matthew Stafford’s wife, Kelly, has deep regrets about recent comments she made about her husband’s struggles in communicating with young teammates.
On her “Morning After” podcast earlier this week, Kelly Stafford spoke about how when Matthew, now the quarterback for the Rams, entered the league teams built camaraderie through playing cards and other social interactions, but now the young players are tethered to their phones outside of practice.
Kelly told Click on Detroit that these comments were “probably the worst thing I’ve done when it comes to him [Matthew].”
She also said she thinks what she previously said is true, but she hasn’t been in the locker room.
“I spoke on a topic that I think, it’s relatable, to the fact that it’s hard to relate to someone who is ten 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.
“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.”
In her previous comments, Kelly said that Matthew told her about his communications struggles.
“It’s kind of crazy, so Matthew’s been in the league for a long time,” Kelly began. “He’s like, ‘The difference in the locker room has changed so significantly,’ and they have a lot of rookies on their team this year, they’re very young.
“But, he’s like, ‘I feel like I can’t connect.’ Because in the old days, you’d come out of practice, you’d shower, people would be playing cards, people would be interacting. Who knows what they’re doing but they’re doing something together, they’re playing ping pong, they have a tournament going on, they’re at least talking.
“He said now, they get done with practice, get done meetings during training camp, and they go straight to their phones, like no one looks up from their phones.”
She wasn’t saying that the young teammates were disrespectful but rather that they treated interactions almost too formally.
“They say ‘sir’ to him and s–t, he’s like, ‘No, we’re on the same level here, we’re both playing in this league, let me get to know you,’” Kelly said. “But he said it’s so different and it’s so hard to get to know these guys. He had a book printed out … of all the guys’ faces and their names.
“He’s like, ‘I need to know their names.’”
Matthew Stafford is entering his 15th season in the NFL, and third with the Rams.
He missed eight games last season due to injuries, as the 5-12 Rams missed the playoffs the year following their Super Bowl championship.