Kelly Stafford was admittedly concerned about bringing her sick family on the Los Angeles Rams’ private plane for their playoff trip to Arizona.
After the Rams’ playoff showdown against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, January 13, was relocated from Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, due to the wildfires in Los Angeles, the Rams organization facilitated a plane for the entire team and their families to travel together to the game.
Kelly, the wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, was sick with a flu at the time, which had also impacted other members of her household. Kelly and Matthew share four daughters: twins Sawyer and Chandler, 7, Hunter, 6 and Tyler, 4.
“We were sick on that flight,” Kelly admitted on the Wednesday, January 15, episode of her “Morning After” podcast. “There was a huge guilt factor to me going, ‘Should we be on this plane right now because of everyone surrounding us and everyone who has to play this game?’”
Before boarding, Kelly reached out to other members of the Rams family for advice on how to handle the situation.
“They were like, ‘Get your ass on that plane. We all need to be together,’” Kelly said. “That was such an incredible thing for me to hear because there was a little bit of like, ‘Should I just stay back with my children?’”
Kelly also had the blessing of her husband, who insisted his wife and daughters accompany him on the trip.
“Matthew was like, ’No, we will do whatever it takes. We are all getting on this plane. We are going to be together right now,’” Kelly said.
Despite all the uncertainty, Kelly was grateful she took the leap of faith to attend the game — a 27-9 victory for the Rams, which earned them a trip to Philadelphia to face the Eagles in the NFL Divisional Round on Sunday, January 19.
“That win, besides the Super Bowl [in 2022], was probably my favorite win while being a Ram,” Kelly gushed.
The game certainly didn’t come without its difficulties, however. Via her Instagram Story, Kelly revealed that one of her girls spent most of the game sick.
“This girl ❤️. In the middle of her pukes in the bathroom, ‘Mommy, are we still winning,’” Kelly wrote alongside a picture of her daughter hugging Matthew after the game. “She couldn’t wait to be in his arms.”
In a separate post, Kelly wrote, “Fun to watch my guy, but damn are we glad that game is over.”
