Kelly Stafford, the wife of NFL star Matthew Stafford, has apologized to her husband’s former teammate after he was caught up in a ‘storm’ over her dating life at college.
Kelly recently revealed that she dated her quarterback husband’s college back-up just to make him jealous, sparking a frenzy of speculation over the identity of the football player she was referring to.
Los Angeles Rams star Matthew played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs between 2006 and 2008, and his now-wife – then known as Kelly Hall – was a cheerleader for the Athens-based team around the same time.
Although Kelly did not name the back-up player she dated, many questioned whether it was Joe Cox, a former Bulldogs quarterback-turned-Alabama coach, who played on the team at around the same time as Matthew.
Now, Kelly has issued a bizarre statement apologizing to Cox and his ‘beautiful fam’, insisting that he was not the player she referenced and writing that he had ‘zero involvement’ in the dating drama.
Kelly Stafford posted an image of ‘beautiful fam’ of Joe Cox, her husband Matthew’s former college rival, while apologizing for landing them at the center of a ‘media storm’
Kelly previously went on a podcast and admitted she dated one of her husband’s college back-up players – but has now insisted that the man in question wasn’t Cox
Stafford’s initial admission about the college dating saga caused fury, and she has apologized to Cox’s family in a groveling post
‘To this beautiful fam… I am sorry for the media storm that happened last week that made its way into your lives,’ she wrote in an Instagram Stories post, while sharing an image of Joe, his wife Erica, and their three children.
Kelly went on to praise Joe and Erica – who was also a Bulldogs cheerleader – for being the couple that she and Matthew ‘looked up to’.
‘You had ZERO involvement in what I spoke about and in fact it was y’alls relationship in college that I looked up to and wanted for me and Matthew,’ she went on.
‘You were the couple that everyone thinks Matthew and I was.. y’all were the UGA QB and cheerleader that met and never let go. I love y’all.’
In a follow-up post, she added: ‘If it didn’t affect others, I wouldn’t even address it because it was so comical the way things were twisted.
‘It was 16 years ago and if you asked both Matthew and I if we would change anything we did back then… nope.
‘But we appreciate the laughs.’
During the Off The Vine podcast appearance that sparked a huge reaction, Kelly had revealed: ‘It wasn’t that cute of a relationship at first – I hated him, I loved him. I dated the back-up (quarterback) to p** him off – which worked.’
The Staffords – now happily married – endured a difficult start to their relationship at college
Joe Cox (L) and Joe Tereshinski (R) were back-up quarterbacks at Georgia while Stafford was the starter, but the identity of the mystery player has still not been revealed
She added: ‘He was the bad boy, too. Matthew is so sweet – a southern gentleman, all that stuff. And the back up was the complete opposite and it upset him.’
After the release, fans speculated over whether Cox or Joe Tereshinski III was the QB Kelly had hinted at, but it now appears Cox has been ruled out.
On the podcast, Kelly also revealed her new relationship drove Stafford to confront her and warn her off his teammate.
‘They lived in the same dorm because athletes lived in the same dorm – and he would see my car there,’ she continued.
‘So at one point, he waited and followed me out and got in my car. And wouldn’t get out. I was like: “This is amazing, it’s working!”‘
The couple are now happily married and they have four young daughters together
Now the pair have been together for over 10 years and have four children
After she told him to get out of her car, Stafford replied: ‘He’s not right for you’. To which Kelly replied: ‘You can’t tell me that!’
Stafford then went on to be No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, coming out of college as the most highly-touted prospect in years.
He was drafted by the Detroit Lions, where he spent 11 years, before heading to the Los Angeles Rams in 2011.
He then won the Super Bowl in his first season on the west coast, helping the Rams to a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium.
Kelly and her husband first began dating while they were at college together, and she was by his side when he was drafted into the NFL – with the football star proposing to the former cheerleader in 2014, three years after they moved to LA.
The pair tied the knot in an extravagant 2015 ceremony in Atlanta, Georgia, and one year later, they announced Kelly was pregnant, going on to welcome twin girls, Sawyer and Chandler, in April 2017.
Over a year later, in August 2018, they introduced daughter Hunter Hope — a surprise given that they hadn’t announced a pregnancy.
In June 2020, they announced the arrival of Tyler, another daughter.
