


Christen Harper wasn’t sure what she and fiancé Jared Goff were “getting into” upon the quarterback’s blockbuster trade to the Lions from the Rams in January 2021.
During an appearance this week on “The Morning After with Kelly Stafford” podcast, Harper reflected on the life-altering moment with Kelly, whose husband, Matthew Stafford, was the quarterback Los Angeles acquired in the deal with Detroit.
“I remember hearing Detroit and I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ I’ve never been there, and of course, I’ve never been to Michigan either, and so I had never heard a single positive thing about Detroit, and so I was really not sure what we were getting ourselves into,” the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, 30, recalled.
“And then of course you get there and I’m like, ‘This place is amazing.'”
Goff was the first overall pick by the Rams in 2016 and reached the Super Bowl with the team at the conclusion of the 2018 season.
Much like Goff, 28, Stafford was the top selection in the 2009 NFL Draft and spent the first 12 seasons of his career in Detroit.
Kelly, who has been married to Stafford since 2015, recalled how she reached out to Harper after the highly publicized quarterback swap.
“I do remember reaching out to you when it happened because I knew the thoughts that were probably going through your head and I wanted to try to make you feel better with the fact that it’s an amazing place,” Kelly said.
Harper, who is now prepping for her 2024 nuptials with Goff following their engagement last summer, then expressed how she pays it forward should a player and their family be uprooted to L.A.
“I think that’s one of the best parts about football, and the connections you make in it, we didn’t know each other, but if I’ve been somewhere before and someone gets traded to LA, I’ll text them or message them on Instagram, and say, ‘Hey, if you need anything, these are the good spots,” she said.
The Staffords enjoyed immediate success in their first year in Los Angeles, where the Rams defeated the Bengals in Super Bowl 2022 — Stafford’s first-ever championship.
The Rams failed to run it back in 2022, with Stafford, 35, being sidelined in December with a spinal cord contusion and the team finishing the year at 5-12.
As for Goff, he and the Lions bounced back from a dismal 3-13-1 campaign in 2021 to emerge as one of the NFL’s biggest surprises this past season, wrapping up the year at 9-8.
The Lions will open the 2023 season against the Chiefs on “Thursday Night Football” on Sept. 7.