Kelly Stafford: 'I Put My Foot in My Mouth' With Comments on Matthew, Rams Teammates

Last week, Kelly Stafford said on an episode of her podcast that husband Matthew Stafford was having a hard time relating to his younger Los Angeles Rams teammates.

On Thursday, she said during an interview with Local 4's Christy McDonald (Detroit) that she regretted those remarks. calling it "probably the worst thing I've done when it comes to [Stafford]."

She continued:

"I spoke on a topic that I think, it's relatable, to the fact that it's hard to relate to someone who is ten years younger than you. And I do think that's entirely true. But I'm not in an NFL locker room, I'm not spending every day with these teammates."

"That was tough. I say all the time, probably not the best if your wife's name is in the media, if it's talking about sports. I felt pretty bad last week. I put my foot in my mouth pretty good last week."

Here were a portion of Kelly Stafford's original comments:

"It's kind of crazy, so Matthew's been in the league for a long time. He's like, 'The difference in the locker room has changed so significantly,' and they have a lot of rookies on their team this year, they're very young."

"… But, he's like, 'I feel like I can't connect.' Because in the old days, you'd come out of practice, you'd shower, people would be playing cards, people would be interacting. Who knows what they're doing but they're doing something together, they're playing ping pong, they have a tournament going on, they're at least talking. He said now, they get done with practice, get done meetings during training camp, and they go straight to their phones, like no one looks up from their phones."

"They say 'sir' to him and shit, He's like, 'No, we're on the same level here, we're both playing in this league, let me get to know you.' But he said it's so different and it's so hard to get to know these guys. He had a book printed out... of all the guys' faces and their names. He's like, 'I need to know their names.'"

Rams' head coach Sean McVay added that he was "not concerned" and didn't take the comments too seriously.

"I think if you know Kelly, I took that as more of a joke at the old man," he told reporters. "And I'll be honest, there's a couple throws that he made during training camp where I wanted to say, 'Yes sir,' to him as well. He's done a great job being able to... I mean, if you watch and if you come out to camp, this guy's done a phenomenal job of leading, connecting with his teammates."

One of the realities of an NFL locker room is that it is a mix of various backgrounds, ages, experiences, etc. A 35-year-old Stafford is going to have a different set of experiences and cultural references than his younger teammates in their early 20s.

But it's also a quarterback's job to lead, set a culture and find a way to relate to those teammates. Which isn't to say that Stafford isn't attempting to do so, but his wife's comments made it sound like less of a joke at his expense and more of an honest assessment of his struggles to relate with this group of Rams.

Which all will be a moot point, of course, if the Rams go out and play well again after last year's 5-12 debacle. If those struggles continue, however, Kelly Stafford's comments may find themselves being revisited throughout the season.