Matthew Stafford’s wife Kelly ticks all the boxes for being the ‘perfect’ football wife. Smart, articulate, a devoted mother of four and a supportive spouse who is a familiar face in the NFL world. Incredibly, however, there’s even more to her story. Before Matthew won the Super Bowl in 2021, she faced a serious health challenge that changed her life.
Advertisement
The Staffords have four children, all girls. Twins Sawyer and Chandler were born in 2017, Hunter in 2018, and Tyler in 2020. A big family is a beautiful thing, but childbirth and the months that follow come with challenges for mothers. Kelly was no exception, and she has been vocal about her fight with postpartum depression after the birth of her first child.
During an appearance on The Skinny Confidential podcast in January, she discussed the issue again, expressing how she felt “very body-conscious” and how that affected her marriage. Eventually, she was able to learn from that experience and maintain a more healthy view of herself following the births of her other two children. That wasn’t her only battle, however.
Kelly shared that in April of 2019, she had had a benign brain tumor removed after a 12-hour surgery. As she did with postpartum depression, Kelly shared her story so that others going through something similar could feel seen and supported. She also reflected on the time she first started experiencing symptoms.
“I was trying to teach my girls the front roll… And the room just started spinning. And I told my mom, ‘Whoo, I’m getting old,’ and she was like, ‘What’?, and I’m like, ‘The room is spinning after that’, and she was like, ‘You’re 29 years old, what are you talking about’,” Kelly recalled.
“And the vertigo spell started to get worse and worse, to the point where I was holding Hunter… and I felt the room spinning and I kinda just threw her to Matthew before I went down,” she continued.
After that scary episode, Matthew insisted his wife go to the doctor to get it checked. Lucky that he did. The doctor found the tumor, a benign acoustic neuroma, and they were able to operate to remove it in time. Kelly also discussed how the surgery has affected her since.
“I have never been the same… Now, playing sports, my balance is still — I’m still learning. My brain has to learn to balance on both sides, normally you have both sides. The more you can make it uncomfortable, the better it gets. No smell and taste thing, thank god, because I love food… And part of my hearing is gone on my right side,” narrated Kelly.
Kelly first met Matthew while both were attending Georgia University from 2006 to 2008. She already had football in her blood, as her brother, Chad Hall, played in the NFL from 2010 to 2013. Hall is now the assistant QB coach for the New York Giants.
Kelly was a Bulldogs cheerleader, and Matthew was the starting QB. A love story as old as time. But she also attended nursing school, eventually becoming a registered nurse after passing her exam in 2014.
However, after marrying Matthew in 2015, she gave up her nursing profession. Instead, she has been the face of one of the most successful WAG podcasts on the market, co-hosting The Morning After with Detroit journalist and family friend Hank Winchester.
Meanwhile, Matthew has had a bit of a hectic time over the last few weeks. Both his camp and the Rams seemingly funneled out reports that Stafford might be traded, with both sides hoping the news would help them in negotiations.
It’s unclear what worked on whom, but eventually, both sides agreed to an undisclosed contract restructuring to keep Stafford in LA, for 2025 at least .
