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Kelly Stafford Shares Update on Kids' Hospitalization Ahead of Husband Matthew Stafford’s Game
Even while battling a particularly awful case of the flu, Kelly Stafford and daughters Sawyer and Chandler, both 7, Hunter, 6, and Tyler, 4, remain NFL quarterback Matthew Stafford's most devoted cheerleaders.
With wildfires continuing to burn throughout Los Angeles where the Rams were slated to take on the Minnesota Vikings Jan. 13, Kelly found herself boarding a flight bound for Arizona with Matthew's teammates and their families mere hours after an exhausting hospital stay.
"There was a huge guilt factor to me going, 'Should we be on this plane right now because of everyone surrounding us and everyone who has to play this game?'" she acknowledged on the Jan. 15 episode of her podcast, The Morning After.
But when she asked the other Rams family members for their take, naturally, they held the line. "They were like, 'Get your ass on that plane. We all need to be together,'" Kelly recounted. “That was such an incredible thing for me to hear."
Not that she got to spend much of the 27-9 victory huddled up with the rest of the squad. "I was in the bathroom with Hunter most of the game," she shared. "So I did not see a lot of it."
Though she was able to bear witness to her middle daughter's winning spirit.
"This girl," the 35-year-old later shared in an Instagram Story. "In the middle of her pukes in the bathroom, ‘Mommy, are we still winning?'"
Instagram/Kelly Stafford
In a word, yes.
Nearly two decades after the University of Georgia cheerleader connected with the star QB over games of pick-up basketball they're still winning, both literally (the Rams advanced to the NFL Divisonal Round, where they'll face the Philadelphia Eagles Jan. 19) and figuratively, Kelly well aware just how much she's scored.
"Matthew is such a calming force in my life," she shared in an exclusive interivew with E! News last August, detailing how their opposites attract vibe just works. "I am very high strung. I feel like I have a lot of stress that I carry, and he just settles me."
A devoted teammate both on and off the gridiron, "He's such an incredible man in so many ways," continued Kelly, who recently wrapped her Cleat Chaser tour with podcast cohost Hank Winchester. "I feel like people think he's perfect, he's not perfect. But he always puts my daughters and myself first. If we all asked him to retire, he would do it. He shows up for me, but he shows, most importantly, my daughters what they should aspire to be with when they're older."
She, in turn, provides Matthew with that proverbial nudge toward the end zone.
When he debated decamping to sunnier climes—and a shot at a Super Bowl ring—after 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions, Kelly reflected, "He was so grateful for me just being like, 'If you want to chance it somewhere else, I will follow you—your girls and I got you.'"
And though he enjoyed immediate success, hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2022 after his first season with the Rams, she added, "I give him that push that he might need, and to realize he's more than a football player, because I feel like sometimes they get lost in that too."
Kelly, however, doesn't need to be reminded that her husband of nearly nine years is her MVP (as in most valuable partner).
As much as she enjoys watching the two-time pro bowler excel as one of the best in the game, "It's not the easiest watching this sport in general," Kelly admitted to E!, "especially when you have a loved one on that field."
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
And, yes, she acknowledged, "This is a job for them and it's an amazing job. They get paid ridiculous, right? We all know that."
But Matthew's $160 million four-year contract isn't worth more than the life they've been building since 2006.
"At the end of the day, I want my husband to be who he was when I met him and married him after he's done and helping me raise these girls," she explained of feeling herself full body clench each time Matthew is sacked. "Body parts I can handle, I'm like, 'Okay, well, you broke something, whatever. We'll figure it out.' I worry about the head, because it's the one people push through and they shouldn't."
Instagram/Kelly Stafford
Because for all the renewed focus on concussion protocol and preventing brain injuries, a player is going to take more hits to the head "the longer they play," said Kelly. And with her husband—2009's top draft pick—set to wrap his 16th season in the league, "That is very heavy on my heart every time I go to the game. It's part of the reason why I get so nervous. I just want him to be healthy."
And the rest of their squad is also aware of the game's Xs and Os.
Her twins, in particular, "Have really started to notice when Daddy's slow to get up after getting hit," Kelly added, noting that one of them "asked last year if he had to play again because he'd gotten hit a bunch one game. That really sat with him."
In those moments, she does her best to call an audible. "You have to tell your kids, 'He's fine, he's fine,'" said Kelly, "but, yet, you don't know. It's just something that you deal with."
Which is why her game plan during the playoffs is to remind her husband that throwing the ball away is always an option.
"It's something I remind him of," she shared, "just to do your best to stay healthy and run as fast as you can."
She would much prefer he heave it into the stands whenever a defensive lineman starts bearing down on him, "But he's also a gamer," Kelly said. "He wants to be in there and play to his ability. So there's definitely a balance there."
One that involves her holding her breath for basically the rest of their lives.
"I will worry about that probably until the day we die, because those symptoms can be later on," she admitted of keeping an eye out for signs of brain trauma. "And so it'll always be on my heart."
instagram (@kbstafford89)
That doesn't mean she's not eager to cheer No. 9 onto another potential Super Bowl victory. But at the end of the day their life together is the real prize.
"I want him to be the same guy, to raise these daughters and to grow old with," Kelly explained. "Because this is just so short in our life. We have a whole life after the NFL."
For now, though, she'll continue being her husband's most devoted fan, even when that means dragging four sick kids some 400 miles away to play cheerleader.
And Matthew isn't the only NFL QB with a secret weapon at home. As Taylor Swift's boyfriend and other athletes march toward a potential championship, we slipped into our proverbial pads to tackle the truly need-to-know stats—just who is cheering on all these gridiron gurus to victory.
Josh Allen/Instagram
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
If Hailee Steinfeld likes a man with true grit, she could do worse than the Bills' three-time Pro Bowl selection, who as of Nov. 22, 2024, is her fiancé.
Josh may be a strong and silent kind of fella when it comes to his dating life—"The fact anybody cares about that still blows my mind," he said on Pardon My Take—but he turned out to be demonstrative where it mattered.
He and Hailee vacationed in Mexico in July 2023, she was spotted at a Bills home game vs. the Raiders Sept. 17 and they caught a Buffalo Sabres game together that October.
A July 2024 photo dump on his Instagram, meanwhile, showed the Dickinson actress hanging out with his parents and siblings.
"I think everybody's kind of known about it," he said on Kay Adams' Up & Adams show in August 2024, briefly touching on his personal life. "Hailee's awesome."
And so Josh's first appearance on her Instagram featured the QB getting down on one knee for a waterfront proposal.
Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
What's better than winning a Super Bowl? Why, it's winning three—and getting to make the requisite trips to Disneyland afterward with the love of your life.
"I was not prepared for this," Brittany Mahomes told CBS News in July 2023 of the whirlwind of accolades and excitement that came with falling for QB1 at her high school in Whitehouse, Texas. "And at such a young age. We were in love and I loved him with all of my heart. But, you know, I didn't expect it to skyrocket this soon, and us kind of just being thrown into the fire like this."
Patrick proposed at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 1, 2020, the day the Chiefs were presented with their Super Bowl LIV rings, and they tied the knot March 12, 2022.
The athlete told CBS that being dad to daughter Sterling Skye, born Feb. 20, 2021, and Patrick "Bronze" Lavone Mahomes III, born Nov. 28, 2022, gave him "a much better understanding of being present and enjoying" the game of football.
"When my kids grow up," he explained, "I wanted them to see that dad wasn't just gone just to be gone. I was gone doing something, to build, to be great. And so, whenever they get older, they can see how hard I worked."
Brittany gave birth to daughter Golden Raye on Jan. 12, 2024, her name another nod to precious metal ahead of the Chiefs' 10th straight trip to the postseason.
Gregory Pace/Shutterstock
Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
The low-key Lion married model Christen Harper on June 22, 2024, at the Ojai Valley Inn in Ojai, Calif.
"I swore that he messaged me first," Christen—Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's co-Rookie of the Year in 2022 and a star of the web series Women of the League—told Fox News Digital in 2023 of meeting her future husband on the dating app Raya in 2018. "But when we went and looked back, I actually sent the first message. So all you ladies out there, you better send the first message because you never know—you gotta shoot your shot."
While the co-founder of the wellness app Planted is a permanent fixture on the sidelines rooting for No. 16, Christen called Jared "just the best cheerleader" when it came to her goals as well.
"It's so fun because I get to cheer him on for his football season," she said. "But he is the number one supporter, the number one person that's just in my court."
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Prime Video
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Not one to flout his relationship on social media, Hurts confirmed to Essence in 2023 that he was "spoken for," and the woman doing the speaking was IT specialist Bryonna Burrows.
They dated at University of Alabama, before Hurts finished his college career at Oklahoma and was drafted in 2020, but "I knew a long time ago," he said about their future together. "I mean, to this point in my life, that’s an irreplaceable feeling. I think that's what allowed us to get to where we are now."
Essence subsequently got the scoop on their engagement in September 2024.
Instagram (jennabrandt3)
Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
The 262nd pick in the 2022 NFL draft was never Mr. Irrelevant to Jenna Brandt.
And while the 49ers have another sort of bauble in mind, Brock popped the question in July 2023 and the couple married in Des Moines, Iowa, on March 9, 2024.
Emily Mayfield, Instagram
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker's football fortunes were all over the place for a couple of years before the Bucs took a chance in 2023 and ended up in the playoffs. But throughout the journey, Emily Wilkinson Mayfield has been along for the ride
Baker, a Heisman winner with the University of Oklahoma, met Emily in 2017 and proposed six months later, so she's been there for all of the ups and downs since he went No. 1 in the 2018 NFL draft to the Browns.
And the fairer half of the Baker & Emily Mayfield Foundation is certainly in it for the long haul.
“Happy 4 year anniversary to my sweet husband," Emily posted to Instagram on July 10, 2024. "These last few years we have grown in so many ways, and I am SO proud of where we are in our marriage."
And indeed it was quite the rebuilding year: The couple welcomed daughter Kova Jade Mayfield on April 9, 2024.
Ronika Stone/Instagram
Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
He has some Aaron Rodgers-size shoes to fill in Green Bay, but fiancée Ronika Stone has no doubt Jordan's up to the challenge.
Ronika, a pro volleyball player and daughter of retired Super Bowl champ Ron Stone, rocks Packers merch with pride. And when she and her future mother-in-law Anna Love weren't exactly given the VIP treatment at Arrowhead Stadium during an away game against the Kansas City Chiefs game in 2021, she handled it with grace and humor.
"I always wanted to be on sportscenter...thought it'd be for volleyball tho," Ronika posted to Instagram after a pic of she and Jordan's mother sitting in the nosebleeds went viral.
Knowing a ride or die when he sees one, Love popped the question while they were in Italy in June 2024.
"First step to forever," they posted on Instagram June 23.
Instagram/Joe Flacco
Joe Flacco, Indianapolis Colts
The unexpected savior of the Browns' 2023-24 playoff chances was Super Bowl winner (with the Ravens) Joe, who was busy playing stay-at-home dad to his five kids with wife Dana Grady Flacco when he got the call.
"Joe's not one to sit still,” Dana told Cleveland.com ahead of the playoffs. "He was always like, 'What can I do? I’m just going to get you a coffee.' I think I had like seven coffees a day.”
The couple, together since senior year at Audubon High School in New Jersey, married on June 25, 2011. They welcomed Stephen in June 2012, Daniel in September 2013, Francis in January 2015, Evelyn in September 2016 and Thomas in April 2018.
“It’s definitely changed how I spend time in the off-season," Joe said in a Ravens promo video. "Me and my wife look at each other and wonder what we did before we had them, because you’re just wrapped up in those guys."
Not ready to hang up his helmet just yet, Joe signed a one-year deal with the Colts to back up second-year QB Anthony Richardson.
Kelly Stafford/Instagram
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
After 12 seasons leading the Lions' offense, the team swapped quarterbacks with the Rams in 2021, meaning longtime Bloomfield Hills, Mich., residents Matt and Kelly Stafford were off to L.A.—where he promptly won a Super Bowl in his first season with his new team.
And it turned out he had a secret weapon in the pocket with him: Yes, it was his wife's unflagging support.
Kelly shared on TODAY after the Rams' win that she wrote her husband letters before every game leading up to the big one in February 2022. "It was just how much I thought he truly deserved this, and why I thought he deserved it," she said. "The most important thing at the end of the day is that we all have each other."
Married since April 4, 2015, the Staffords are parents of four daughters: twins Chandler and Sawyer (born March 31, 2017), Hunter Hope (Aug. 16, 2018) and Tyler Hall (June 28, 2020).
Russell Wilson/Instagram
Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
"He and I share the same vision for our babies, which I think makes the world of a difference, that we’re on the same page," Ciara, who married Russ in 2016, told Sports Illustrated in 2022. "It’s important that our kids—you know, they have way more access than we had growing up—so we want to make sure we keep them humble in the process to make sure they do things like having to pick up after themselves and knowing that life isn’t going to be handed to you."
Russ joined the Broncos in 2022 after 10 seasons in Seattle and gained a new team member off the field as well: Daughter Amora Princess Wilson was born in December 2023, joining Future Zahir (Ciara's son with rapper Future, born May 2019), daughter Sienna (April 2017), and son Win (July 2020), in the family lineup.
After two lackluster seasons in Denver, Russ has been in comeback-player-of-the-year form with the Steelers, who also acquired former Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields in 2024.
Dak Prescott/Instagram
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
The team's quarterback first sparked romance rumors with Sarah Jane Ramos in September 2023 when she shared photos of herself watching a Cowboys game with his sister-in-law Holly Prescott.
In November 2023, Sarah and Dak announced on Instagram that they were expecting their first child.
Margaret Jane Rose Prescott was born Feb. 22, 2024, and Dak ran it in for the game winner in October.
"Mine Forever!!!!" he captioned his Oct. 18 proposal pic. "The Best Friend, Partner, Teammate, Mother, and Now Fiancé I could Ask or Pray for! Thank you God for this Blessing and Family! I Love you."
Instagram (@heathercarr4)
Derick Carr, New Orleans Saints
Who dat? Why, it's Heather Carr, recent NOLA transplant after her husband signed with the Saints in 2023 following nine seasons with the Oakland-turned-Las Vegas Raiders.
They were students at Fresno State when they met, Derick trying his darndest to get a cute waitress' attention.
"I was just like 'Ugh, I don't want anything to do with that,'" Heather recalled to Fresno's ABC 30. "The typical football guy, right?"
But when she purposely gave him a wrong phone number, he came back to the restaurant to give her his digits—and tell her that, when she was ready, he'd pick up the phone. A few weeks later, she found out Derick wasn't so typical.
They tied the knot June 29, 2012.
"Some days he comes home, he's quiet, he's tired," she reflected of her star QB. "Just making sure he always knows that I'm here to encourage him, support him, do I need to do anything for you."
When it was time to move across the country, she stocked up on Saints gear in all sizes for sons Dallas (born Aug. 5, 2013), Deker (March 16, 2016) and Deakon (May 16, 2019), and daughter Brooklyn (Nov. 30, 2020).
Kirk Cousins/Instagram
Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
Sure, offensive lines are great, but it's Julie Hampton Cousins who really has Kirk's back.
The elementary school teacher, who married Kirk in 2014, "thrives in the work of supporting" her husband, she told People. "I love hosting people for games, cooking and planning snacks and meals. I also enjoy organizing all kinds of stuff for Kirk off the field, like his bodywork, making sure we all get good sleep and that we're getting in quality time with our boys. It's a very unique job, but I'm very happy to be in it."
And while at 36 Kirk is closer to the end of his career than the beginning, he said he'd love to play until sons Cooper (born Sept. 29, 2017) and Turner (March 10, 2019) can "really remember it and will have enjoyed being a part of it."
Trevor Lawrence/Instagram
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Marissa Lawrence has been cheering her husband on since their Cartersville High School days in Georgia—and their photo album includes memories of every milestone, from their senior prom to their April 10, 2021, wedding day to Trevor going No. 1 to the Jaguars just weeks later and many tropical vacations since.
"Every year gets sweeter with you @marissa_lawrence," Trevor wrote on their anniversary in 2023. "2 years down already and we’ve made so many memories and experienced so much together. Excited for all the years to come. I love you more than you know."
And he wasn't kidding about the progressively sweeter years: The couple revealed in June 2024 that "a little Lawrence" was on the way and daughter Shae Lynn Lawrence arrived Jan. 4.
Instagram / Olivia Holzmacher
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe met Olivia Holzmacher in 2017 at Ohio State—and he didn't drop the ball once he transferred to Lousiana State, where he won a national championship and the Heisman trophy with the Tigers in 2020.
When he went No. 1 to the Bengals in the NFL draft, Olivia wrote, "Thankful to be by your side Joe … so excited for what the future holds."
Former Bengal Adam "Pacman" Jones claimed they were engaged in 2023 but showed no receipts, and as the 2024 NFL season got underway, Joe's last cameo on her Instagram was Jan. 31.
The athlete has since been linked to model Olivia Ponton after she called 911 to report a burglary at Joe's Ohio home on Dec. 9, 2024, while he was away playing in Dallas.
"I feel like my privacy has been violated in more ways than one," Joe told reporters a couple days later, adding, "Way more is already out there than I would want out there and that I care to share, so that's all I got to say about that."
Drake Maye/Instagram
Drake Maye, New England Patriots
The No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft came to Foxborough, Mass., was ready to start on the field, but he hasn't played the field possibly ever, having been in a relationship with fellow North Carolina Tar Heel Ann Michael Hudson for almost a decade.
"9 years with you and it keeps getting better everyday," Ann wrote Oct. 30 on Instagram. "I couldn’t imagine my life with out you as my best friend. I love you more than you know!"
The couple announced their engagement in January 2025.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Churchill Downs
Desmond Ridder, Las Vegas Raiders
The third-round 2022 draft pick turned late-season rookie starter for the Falcons has a nose for numbers.
"4 years, 1460 days, 2,102,400 minutes with you has been one hell of a journey, we have had our ups and downs but it has made us stronger in the end," Desmond posted about his then-fiancée Claire Cornett in 2020. "Can’t wait to spend forever with you."
The University of Cincinnati sweethearts introduced daughter Leighton Elizabeth Ridder to the world on April 21, 2021 (yes, Bearcat onesies do come in that size), and then tied the knot July 15, 2022.
Son Kyland Jett arrived on Feb. 20, 2024.
For their second anniversary, Desmond wrote to Claire, "Thank you for loving me unconditionally through thick and thin and never missing a chance to make me laugh. You are the BEST Wife, Mother, and Friend that anyone could ask for."
Desmond reported to training camp ready to take snaps for the Arizona Cardinals, who signed him in 2024 to back up Kyler Murray, then released him, then brought him back for the practice squad. And that's where he was when the Raiders signed him in October.
Instagram/(sophiescott9)
Mac Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars
Sophie Scott was always showing up at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., for him, so it was only fair he show up there for her when the Eras Tour came to town.
College sweethearts at Alabama, the couple made the move to Boston together when Mac was drafted by the New England Patriots in 2021.
In 2024, their surroundings may have changed—Mac signed with the Jaguars to back up Trevor Lawrence—but the company has stayed the same.
"Happy birthday @sophiescott9!," Mac wrote Sept. 1, 2024. "25 looks good on you! Looking forward to many more adventures together sweet sugar."
Amy Pickett/Instagram
Kenny Pickett, Philadelphia Eagles
The only quarterback selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft reported for Steelers' training camp in 2023 a married man, swapping vows with former Princeton soccer player Amy Paternoster on June 24.
The couple, who started dating in 2021, honeymooned in Puerto Rico.
On Amy's 22nd birthday Feb. 13, 2023, Kenny posted to Instagram, "Extremely grateful for you every day and spending the rest of my life with you will be the greatest honor I could ask for."
They enjoyed their first wedding anniversary vacationing in Napa, Calif., before Kenny reported for duty with the Philadelphia Eagles to back up Jalen Hurts.
Instagram (@annahtagovailoa)
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
After his fifth-year option was picked up by the Dolphins in March 2023, Tua admitted to reporters that he considered retiring after his injury-marred 2022 season.
And not least because he had so many wonderful things to stay home for.
"Never one to put my private life out there. But this one deserved a post," Tua wrote on July 17, 2023, sharing a one-time-only snap of his love Annah Tagovailoa. "Happy 1 Year Anniversary to my beautiful wife. I love you."
In a rare peek into his off-field world, Tua told reporters in November 2022 that he was thankful for his wife and new baby (son Ace, born in August 2022, made his public debut at the Tua Foundation luau benefit the following April).
"It's very unique how having a child impacts how you see things differently in life. It’s like nothing that I’ve experienced," Tua said. "There’s no playbook for this because everyone’s experience is different, whether you’re having a boy first or a girl."
That being said, he added, "I thank my heavenly Father up above that I got a boy first. Oh, man. I don’t know what I’d do if I had a girl. It'd be a little harder, I think, because I wouldn’t know what to do necessarily."
Tua and Anna have since welcomed daughter Maisey.
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