Originally appeared on E! Online
Kelly Stafford almost didn't make it to the end zone with Matthew Stafford.
The wife of the Los Angeles Rams quarterback detailed the couple's road to romance after meeting at the University of Georgia — and as she explained, their love story "started out horrible."
"Long story short," she explained on the "Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast June 11, "wasn't that cute of a relationship at first."
The 35-year-old said that she and the NFL star met before school started, as he was the quarterback and she was a cheerleader. And while she was ready to jump into a relationship, he was more interested in "casual dating." But as Kelly joked, "I didn't know what that was."
Instead, they were very much off and on, with her saying, "I hated him. I loved him. I dated the backup to piss him off."
Kelly noted that his teammate — whom she described as a "bad boy" to the footballer's "Southern gentleman" — lived in the same dorm as Matthew, so he most certainly noticed her extracurricular activities.
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"He would see my car there. And so at one point, he waited, and followed me out and got in my car and wouldn't get out," she said. "I was like, 'Get out of my car,' and he's like, 'He's not right for you.' And I'm like you, 'You can't tell me that.'"
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Kelly joked that while the duo were arguing, her internal monologue was ecstatic, "I was like, 'This is amazing, it's working!'"
Luckily, the two have made for a winning couple over the years, marrying in 2015 and welcoming daughters Chandler, 6, Sawyer, 6, Hunter, 5, and Tyler, 3. But Kelly is still surprised they ended up together — and she might not be the only one.
"I think if you ask anyone who knew us at Georgia if they thought we would have ended up together, four kids, they would have laughed their asses off," she said. "I think I would have laughed my ass off at that."
And while she might have laughed, it's clear that she and Matthew have something special, especially when it comes to raising their daughters.
"He is the softest, most patient man," she told E! News in 2022. "My dad always said one of the most important relationships in life is a father-daughter relationship just because of the confidence your dad can give you."
She continued, "I am so grateful that I ended up with Matthew because he sets such an incredible example as to the partner they should want to be with."
