Wife of Rams QB Matthew Stafford Speaks on Super Bowl Parade Incident
Following 12 long years of frustration on the field in Detroit, Matthew Stafford finally broke through and led the Los Angeles Rams to the first Super Bowl win of his career last season.
And while the celebration lived up to any and all expectations during the Super Bowl Parade in LA, one incident overshadowed the festivities a bit.
That now-infamous incident happened when photographer Kelly Smiley fell off of the Rams stage and suffered a fractured spine, with Stafford's reaction to her fall taking all of the headlines.
And for the first time since that incident, Stafford's wife Kelly spoke out about what happened, their regrets, and what was going through their minds at the time.
“We didn’t know any of that until way past it. I know Matthew wishes he could take that reaction back, but if he tried to help … if anyone saw or heard him that day, he probably wasn’t in the right state of mind to do anything, and could’ve made it worse,” Kelly said during a radio appearance on Carolton and Roberts.l, alluding to the fact that many Rams were inebriated during the celebration. “It wasn’t the best reaction, but when we got in the car after, he asked me to text the Rams people and make sure she was OK, and the next day was when we tried to figure out a solution.”
That solution was a selfless one as well, with the Stafford's electing to pay the complete total of Smiley's medical bills from the injury.
Stafford also showed compassion to Smiley after her image was dragged through the internet and social media following the incident.
“Part of me feels her whole life was thrown in the washer in a way, and I hate it for everybody involved,” Kelly said, “but I’ll be totally honest: after I heard about the things (racist posts) said by her 10 years ago, part of me wanted to reach out and say I was sorry this is happening, and I hope you’re not the same person now that you were then – and if you are, hopefully this changes you. Everyone makes mistakes, and I wanted to show compassion.”
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