Kelly Stafford Wonders If Husband Matthew Is Nearing NFL Retirement

Kelly Stafford is praising her husband, Matthew Stafford, after the Los Angeles Rams were defeated in the divisional round of the playoffs — and wondering about a possible retirement.

“Aren’t enough words to express how proud I am,” Kelly, 35, wrote via Instagram on Monday, January 20. “I joke about us being old and tired but honestly I could never get tired of watching you out there or watching our girls cheer for their daddy.”

Kelly also shared a carousel of photos from the Sunday, January 19, game against the Philadelphia Eagles. In one image, Kelly and Matthew’s daughters surrounded the Rams quarterback, 36, as he leaned down to talk with them. (Kelly and Matthew, who wed in 2015, share four daughters: twins Chandler and Sawyer, born in March 2017, Hunter, born in August 2018, and Tyler, born in June 2020.)

“I’m wondering if this is the end or not … guess we will find out,” Kelly concluded.

Following the loss, Matthew shared he would “take some time to think” about his future in the NFL. “But I feel like I was playing some pretty good ball,” Matthew told reporters on Sunday. When asked whether he has football left in him, Matthew replied, “Sure feels like it.”

Ahead of the game, Kelly and their four daughters were seen giving Matthew words of encouragement on the field. Matthew got down on one knee and hugged his daughters as Kelly leaned into the huddle. “Pregame group hug for the Stafford family,” the NFL’s official Instagram account wrote over a post on Sunday.

Kelly and their daughters have been by Matthew’s side during the NFL season, even while battling illness. After the Rams’ game against the Minnesota Vikings on January 13 was relocated, the Rams organization organized a plane for the team and their families to travel together to the game.

“We were sick on that flight,” Kelly admitted on the January 15 episode of her “Morning After” podcast. “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?’”

Before Kelly and her daughters got on the plane, she reached out to others in the Ram family for advice. “They were like, ‘Get your ass on that plane. We all need to be together,’” Kelly said. “That was such an incredible thing for me to hear because there was a little bit of like, ‘Should I just stay back with my children?’”

Matthew also insisted that Kelly and the girls travel with him to the matchup. “Matthew was like, ’No, we will do whatever it takes. We are all getting on this plane. We are going to be together right now,’” Kelly said.

Despite the hesitation, Kelly was ultimately glad that she attended the game — which the Rams won. “That win, besides the Super Bowl [in 2022], was probably my favorite win while being a Ram,” Kelly gushed.