The Los Angeles Rams are now getting the full Matthew Stafford experience. Stafford does not have a social media presence, but his wife Kelly is much more open to the media. During his time in Detroit, Kelly Stafford would often make announcements on behalf of the QB. As a result, Kelly Stafford is sometimes in the media for stories that are only tangentially related to football. This happened again this week, and it seemingly irked Stephen A. Smith.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith recently questioned why Kelly Stafford would share details about her past dating life that could appear harmful to Rams QB Matthew Stafford.
For context, Kelly Stafford recently appeared on the Off the Vine podcast. She told host Kristin Bristowe about her relationship with Matthew, who met at the University of Georgia and married in 2015. One of her anecdotes included a story about dating one of Stafford's teammates to make him jealous.
“At first, I hated him. I loved him. I dated the backup to p*** him off, which worked,” Kelly said about the incident. “He was the bad boy too like Matthew’s so sweet and Southern gentleman and all that stuff and the backup was the complete opposite. And it upset him.”
“If you are Mrs. Stafford, what could possibly make you think that it is OK for you to go home, after revealing to the public, I kicked it with his backup? What possible advantage could you peel from that?” Smith asked on The Stephen A. Smith Show podcast.
Smith made it clear that he isn't trying to attack Kelly Stafford. He is just confused about why she's airing the couple's dirty laundry on a podcast.
“I met the woman once, she’s a nice lady,” Smith continued. “I’m not casting any aspersions on her character or anything like that, I would never disrespect Matthew Stafford’s wife or anybody else’s wife, I’m just making the point: What would make you think that’s OK? Why would you do that?”
Can Matthew Stafford lead the Rams back to the playoffs in 2024?
The Los Angeles Rams are hungry to return to the postseason in 2024.
LA made the playoffs in 2023 as a wild card team after a disappointing 5-12 record in 2022. The Rams faced the Detroit Lions in an emotional Wild Card matchup that featured two first-overall picks playing against the teams who drafted them. Los Angeles played well in that game, but fell against Detroit 24-23 in what felt like a “team of destiny” game for the Lions.
Now the question becomes can Stafford lead the Rams back the playoffs?
The Rams are now without Aaron Donald, which puts Stafford, Kupp, and Nacua in the spotlight as the main attraction in LA. They will need to become an offense-first team to continue to compete in the post-Aaron Donald era.
There is reason for optimism. Stafford looked better than ever in 2023. Puka Nacua was a sensation in his rookie season, which has fans excited for year two of him and Cooper Kupp playing together. The Rams also overhauled the offensive line by adding Jonah Jackson and Kevin Dotson in free agency.
The defense also received some fresh faces who will try to replace Donald in the aggregate. Rookies Braden Fiske and Jared Verse add some juice to the team's front seven, which now has several talented young players.
The Rams will need to put up a good fight within the NFC West to help position themselves for a wild card spot. Sweeping the Cardinals and Seahawks, or going 3-1 at worst, would go a long way towards keeping LA competitive in the NFC playoff hunt later in the season.
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