One of the odd stories of this year’s NFL offseason seemingly was resolved this week. Super Bowl champion Matthew Stafford’s wife, Kelly Stafford, apologized after a highly bizarre interview.
Kelly appeared on the Off The Vine podcast and told host Kristen Bristowe a story about how she and Matthew met at the University of Georgia.
On the surface, that sounds innocuous. But it’s the story that she told that got all of the attention.
Stafford said on the podcast she dated one of Stafford’s former teammates to make him upset:
“At first, I hated him. I loved him. I dated the backup to p*** him off, which worked,” Kelly said. “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.”
This was far from the biggest story in the world, but anytime you share something on the internet, it’s bound to get attention. And anytime you overshare information, you’ll probably do more harm than good. It seems that Kelly recognized that, as she issued a formal apology on social media. With one added clarification: While Kelly said she dated the backup quarterback, she clarified it was not former Georgia quarterback Joe Cox. She posted a message on social media apologizing to Cox and his family for the fallout that was created.
Kelly Stafford wants the world to know it was NOT Joe Cox she dated to make Matthew jealous in college. pic.twitter.com/8cxN0Xu5s6
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) June 26, 2024
“To this beautiful fam… I am sorry for the media storm that happened last week that made its way into your lives,” she said. “You had ZERO involvement in what I spoke about and in fact, it was y’alls relationship in college that I looked up to and wanted for me and Matthew. You were the couple that everyone thinks Matthew and I was… y’all were the UGA QB and cheerleader that met and never let go. I love y’all.”
Hopefully, after all this, everyone’s learned a valuable lesson. Sharing stories could have ripple effects. When they’re deeply personal like this, and when they wind up reaching other people and their families thanks to social media rumormongering and gossiping, it becomes a full-fledged mess.
