Kelly Stafford often speaks her mind on her podcast, “The Morning After with Kelly Stafford & Hank,” and on the October 8 edition of the show, she had some choice words for how the referees treat her husband, Matthew Stafford, a former Detroit Lions quarterback, on the field. During the episode, Kelly answered a fan’s question about why the fan says Matthew, the current quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, keeps getting his butt “kicked” in games without the refs calling many roughing the passer penalties.
‘Matthew Doesn’t Tend to Get’ Roughing the Passer Calls
“I will say one thing: Matthew doesn’t tend to get those calls,” Kelly said. “I think there’s quarterbacks that draw those calls. Matthew’s known as, like, the tough guy around the league. In my mind, I’m going, ‘Well, they think he’s tough enough to handle it.'”
Matthew actually had the third-most roughing the passer penalties called for him since 2010, per a 2022 research study by Pro Football Focus. But, the quarterback has only gotten one roughing the passer penalty in Los Angeles’ first five games this season, so the fan could have been referring to this season’s record.
Kelly added that it never gets easier for her to see her husband get banged up on the field and that now that he’s older, at age 36, it’s even harder.
“I’m upstairs a hot wreck, because I know when he comes home, the bruises, the swelling, it’s a lot right now,” she said. “He’s not young. Recovering from those hits can get tough.”
‘Matthew’s Really Tough So They Just Don’t Call It’
Elsewhere, Kelly went back to the roughing the passer discussion, which is called when a defensive player makes illegal contact with the quarterback.
“This is what happens to Matthew a lot that doesn’t get called: if a guy tackles you and lands with his full body weight on top of you,” she said. “You’re thinking about these men that are chasing after these quarterbacks. They’re 275-plus [pounds] and they are freak athletes. Insane athletes. They’re coming full force at you. They hit you with all of their body weight on top of you? And on turf? That’s just bone-shattering.”
She added, “Matthew got that two weeks ago and no call. He said he felt his sternum crack… He looked at the ref and he was like, ‘I don’t know, that really felt like it was his whole … body weight on me.'”
Kelly added that she believes some quarterbacks in the NFL get more roughing the passer calls in their favor because they “sell it more” and make a bigger case of it to the refs.
“Maybe some quarterbacks get angry enough to where the refs are like, OK, OK,'” she said. “I don’t know. My thought is, Matthew’s really tough so they just don’t call it.'”
Matthew and the Los Angeles Rams are on a bye week in Week 6. The team, which is 1-4, will start back up again in Week 7 on Sunday, October 20, with a game against rivals the Las Vegas Raiders.
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Kelly Stafford Sends Blunt Message to Refs on Ex-Lions QB Matthew Stafford