Kelly Stafford felt ‘dirty’ using her husband’s name for influence
Kelly Stafford openly reflected on the early days of her relationship with her husband Matthew Stafford – and how far things have come since then for football wives and girlfriends.
After Kelly, 35, and Matthew, 36, met during their time together at the University of Georgia, Matthew was drafted by the Detroit Lions with the No. 1 overall pick in April 2009. The couple married in April 2015 and have since had four daughters: twins Chandler And Sawyer7, Hunter6 and Tyler4.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone what those first few years as his partner were like,” Kelly said. Glamour in a story published on Wednesday, November 20.
Kelly now hosts the podcast “The Morning After” — which she launched in September 2021 — and routinely talks about her life as the wife of an NFL quarterback, sometimes even hosting Matthew as a guest.
But when her relationship was in its infancy, Kelly was nervous about merging those two worlds for fear of what people would think.
“For a long time, I didn’t want to abuse any platform I was given because I was married to my husband,” she says. “I felt like this wasn’t my place. I almost felt dirty doing that.”
All these years later, the concept of a WAG – short for “wives and girlfriends,” usually used to describe individuals in relationships with athletes – has changed dramatically.
“Women [now have] companies and have this huge platform,” Kelly said. “It’s incredible to watch.”
Women love Kristin Juszczykwife of San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczykturned its connection with the NFL into a licensing deal with the league after her custom football jackets went viral, thanks in large part Taylor Swift (another member of today’s WAG community).
In a recent interview with We weekly, Claire Kittelthe wife of 49ers wide receiver George Kittelembraced and called a WAG.
“It’s short and quick, you know?” Claire, 30, told us in October. ‘What else would have the same effect? It does work!”
During a conversation earlier this week with fellow podcaster Jan KramerKelly explained that she launched “The Morning After” at another vulnerable point in her life.
“I was very tired and very down about a lot of things — as a parent, as a woman, with my appearance,” Kelly told Kramer, 40, on the Sunday, Nov. 17, episode of Kramer’s “Whine Down” podcast. .
“I just wanted to create a space where we don’t talk about all our best stuff,” Kelly added. “Maybe we’ll mix it up and talk about some of our failures so we don’t feel so alone when we fail.”