Quarterback Matthew Stafford’s Wife, Kelly, Shares an Emotional Message With NFL Wives After Damar Hamlin’s On-Field Collapse
Being the wife of a professional NFL player can be a wonderful experience thanks to the resources and opportunities it provides. Still, the real violence of the sport also fills every Sunday with anxiety. A severe injury is possible on every play as football fans witnessed during the Week 16 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills.
Damar Hamlin’s cardiac episode on the field reminded everyone how traumatic football can be for players and their families. Kelly Stafford, the wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, offered words of support to other women who find it hard to watch their partner’s chosen profession.
Matthew and Kelly Stafford have been together since college
Matthew and Kelly started dating while attending the University of Georgia in the late 2000s. He was the star quarterback on the football team, and she was a cheerleader. They stayed together after Stafford was drafted into the NFL by the Detroit Lions in 2009. The pair got married in 2015.
Matthew and Kelly became parents in 2017 with the birth of their twin daughters, Sawyer and Chandler. Since then, they’ve had two more daughters, Hunter in 2018 and Tyler in 2020.
Both parties have dealt with difficult circumstances during their marriage. Matthew’s suffered several serious injuries, including a separated shoulder, fractured tailbone, and multiple concussions, reports Draft Sharks. During his 12 years with the Detroit Lions, the QB struggled to find postseason success.
Kelly was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor called acoustic neuroma in 2019. Fortunately, the tumor was successfully removed, and she eventually returned to total health.
Their love has remained strong through it all. When Matthew won the Super Bowl with the Rams last year, Kelly and their kids were there to celebrate.
Kelly Stafford reached out to women worried about the dangers of football
On January 2, the Monday Night Football game between the Bengals and Bills was set to be an exciting contest in the AFC. However, the playoff ramifications faded into irrelevance after Hamlin collapsed to the field midway through the first quarter. Gruesome injuries are a part of the sport. But fearing we see a person die is an entirely different matter.
Medical professionals gave the Buffalo safety CPR for 10 long minutes. Players, analysts, and fans were shaken to the point of tears out of fear for Hamlin’s condition. Thankfully, he is making a remarkable recovery. After nine days in the hospital, Hamlin was discharged and allowed to return home.
Still, the incident made people reconsider the risks of football and whether players are fairly compensated for their work. (Most of the money in NFL contracts is not guaranteed, and their salaries are cut if they are put on injured reserve.)
The discourse understandably focuses on the athletes on the field. But the strain of watching someone you care about put their mind and body on the line every week is also a complicated space to live in. In the wake of Hamlin’s emergency, Kelly Stafford took to Instagram to voice the concerns she and other partners of NFL players have to work through from the sidelines:
“I wish someone would promise us that the people we fell in love with will be those same people when they are finished playing this game, but we all know, this is a promise that can not be made. We all know how hard our men work and have worked their whole lives to be on that field and we don’t take those dreams lightly … however it does not mean we always have to be the strong/never break support. It’s ok to be vulnerable and talk about it, especially with the man you love most.”
The NFL can make changes to make the game safer, but football will never be safe
After being threatened with legal action over their mishandling of concussions and negative PR cycles, the NFL finally began to make changes to make it safer for the players. But football is like a cigarette. There’s no version of the product that is safe, healthy, and satisfying for the consumer.
Football is predicated on increasingly athletic and muscular men hitting each other hundreds of times every game. While the appetite for big hits is less than it used to be, the violence is part of the appeal. But that doesn’t mean the league is responsible enough for player welfare.
Matthew Stafford went into concussion protocol twice in the same month this season. Kelly, who has been a registered nurse since 2014, aired out her frustrations with the NFL’s process in an Instagram story from the account of her podcast Morning After.
“The head is not something to be messed with … and I hope as this sport develops, so does the concern for head health and the research around it,” she said. “I have every emotion running through me. Concerned, angry, sad, tired … all of them.”
She also pressed the league to remove turf from fields. Synthetic grass is cheaper to maintain but is proven to increase the chance of severe injuries for players. “Not just their limbs, but more importantly, their head health. There is a big difference when a helmet hits grass than when it hits turf.”
