Kelly Stafford, the outspoken wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, says that she is "jealous" of the attention that pop star Taylor Swift received from the NFL, even as it turned the players themselves into a "sideshow."
In a recent episode of her podcast "The Morning After," Stafford opened up about a statement she had made prior to the start of the 2024 NFL season when she commented that she didn't "want to see another four months of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce coverage."
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Stafford met the future Pro Bowl player when he played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs. Matthew Stafford was chosen first overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2009 NFL Draft. He ranks in the top 12 all-time for pass attempts, completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns. Currently, he sits fourth all-time in passing yards per game and holds the record as the fastest player in NFL history to reach 40,000 career passing yards.
Despite that, it seems that the wife of the Super Bowl LVI champion is admitting that was rooted in her jealousy over the "Bad Blood" singer's media attention. She said, "I will say I kind of got tired of the Chiefs' coverage of it, actually the NFL's coverage, of this budding relationship last year."
Stafford continued, "I was a little jealous of the fact that [Swift and Kelce] were getting all this attention, and all of a sudden the football game was the sideshow. So yeah, maybe I let jealousy get the best of me."
Swift and Kelce became a major focus in the NFL during the 2023 season. Swift, a globally renowned pop star, was seen attending Chiefs games to support Kelce, and their relationship sparked extensive media coverage. Swift's presence drew in her vast fanbase, though it also rankled some sports fans who felt that the focus on the singer detracted from the game itself.
It seems that Stafford was one of them. She continued her focus on Swift, asserting that her own admitted jealousy came from a place of feeling that players were not being paid attention to. She said, "I was like, 'Why was I feeling that way?' And it really was, I had some jealousy issues of the fact that she all of a sudden became the main show in NFL football ... or their relationship. And I watch my husband work his a** off and I watch all these guys who play for the league work their a**** off and all of a sudden they're like the sideshow. So that is where that kind of came from."
It is worth mentioning that Stafford herself is one of the more prominent NFL wives in the public eye and has a tendency to make statements on her podcasts or an interview that draw more attention to herself.
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For example, she recently opined that Cleveland Browns fans who cheered quarterback Deshaun Watson's injury should be banned, saying the NFL "should try and find every fan that cheered and ban them for life. Makes my blood boil."
Even more oddly (given the circumstances), the Staffords made headlines this Halloween by dressing up as Swift and Kelce.
Likely, Stafford will soon have another episode of her podcast regarding Swift, if only to explain the costume.
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