Rams
Who is Matthew Stafford's wife? Meet 'The Morning After' podcaster married to the Rams' QB
He was a football quarterback and she was a cheerleader - stop me if you’ve heard this one before. That’s the story of Matthew Stafford and his wife, Kelly.
Before quarterback Matthew Stafford won the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in the 2021 season, he spent 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions. Before that, he was the quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs, and that’s where he met a cheerleader named Kelly Hall who would end up becoming his wife.
All about Kelly Stafford
Matthew and Kelly’s relationship
Kelly and Matthew were off and on for a little bit in college and there was even one point when she dated his backup quarterback just to “piss him off”. Eventually, she and Stafford solved their issues and got back together.
Stafford was drafted No. 1 overall by the Lions in 2009 and Kelly stayed with him through his start in the NFL. The couple got married in 2015.
Since then, Matthew and Kelly have welcomed four daughters into the world - identical twins Chandler and Sawyer (seven years old), Hunter (six years old), and Tyler (four years old). Kelly often shares photos of their girls on social media.
Kelly’s backstory and current job
At the University of Georgia, Kelly studied nursing and became a registered nurse in 2014.
She is now the host of her own podcast called The Morning After where she talks about life married to a professional athlete and life as a mother. She launched the podcast in September 2021 and at first was doing it solo, but eventually brought on Hank Winchester, a close family friend and award-winning reporter in Detroit, as co-host.
Kelly also happens to be related to an NFL coach. Her brother, Chandler “Chad” Hall, is a wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also played in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Kansas City Chiefs.
Kelly and Matthew’s support for each other
As all NFL players do, Stafford has had his fair share of criticism. And Kelly can often be seen defending him on social media. After he won the Super Bowl with the Rams in 2022, she made a post responding to critics with this caption: “Can y’all just let him enjoy this?! It went from Matthew can’t win, to Matthew can’t win against winning teams, to Matthew can’t win big games, to Matthew can’t win playoff games, to Matthew can’t win it all … And now … the debate on the HOF?”
Likewise, Matthew has supported Kelly through the good times and the bad. In 2019, she underwent a 12-hour surgery to remove a brain tumor and had to learn to walk again.
She couldn’t see her daughters for two weeks and there was concern she may lose her hearing permanently. Matthew took time off from the Lions to help Kelly through the recovery process.
“Matthew was incredible during the whole process. He was literally by my side at every step,” Kelly wrote in an ESPN essay. “I had exercises I needed to do. Some of them were seemingly simple, like shaking my head left and right, and Matthew helped me through all of it.”
Fortunately, Kelly made a full recovery and she and Matthew became even stronger.