Kelly Stafford was quite open about the early stages of her relationship with her husband, Rams QB Matthew Stafford when she appeared on the "Off the Vine" podcast as she revealed that she once dated the quarterback's college backup — just to make him jealous.
Kelly met the quarterback during their college days at Georgia, but their relationship didn't exactly start smoothly and she played a trick on him, Kelly revealed on Kristin Bristowe's podcast recently. The Los Angeles Rams star played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs from 2006 to 2008. His future wife, then known as Kelly Hall, was a cheerleader for the Athens-based team around the same time.
Making Her Husband Jealous
"It wasn't that cute of a relationship at first," Kelly said. "I hated him, I loved him. I dated the backup to piss him off, which worked — he was the bad boy too. Matthew's so sweet and a Southern gentleman and all that stuff. And the backup was the complete opposite, and it upset him."
The football WAG didn't stop there, revealing details of how she won over the star Bulldogs quarterback.
During the 2006 season, Stafford was a freshman serving as backup to Joe Tereshinski III before taking on the starting quarterback position. Joe Cox also played quarterback for the Bulldogs that year.
In both the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Stafford served as Georgia's starting quarterback, with Cox as his backup.
It's unclear if either Cox or Tereshinski is the player mentioned by Kelly in her podcast appearance.
However, Kelly disclosed that her new relationship led Stafford to confront her and warn her about his teammate.
"They lived in the same dorm room because athletes lived in the same dorm room. He would see my car there. At one point he waited and followed me into the car. I was like, 'This is amazing, it's working.' I was like, 'Get out of my car.' He was like, 'He's not right for you.' I was like, 'What? You can't tell me that.'"
Perfect Ploy
The elaborate plan did indeed work out for Kelly, who has been married to Stafford since 2015. The couple has four daughters: seven-year-old twins Chandler and Sawyer, Hunter, who is five, and Tyler, who is three.
Stafford went on to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, emerging from college as one of the most highly touted prospects in years.
He was drafted by the Detroit Lions, where he spent 11 years before joining the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.
In his first season on the west coast, Stafford won the Super Bowl, leading the Rams to a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium.
