Matthew Stafford personally texted the photographer and apologized for his reaction
It was a strange moment at last week’s Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl parade.
Former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was accompanied by his wife and former UGA cheerleader Kelly Stafford, went viral for his reaction to photographer Kelly Smiley falling off the stage right in front of the two. The Rams superstar reacted by quickly turning away, while his wife, however, instantly went to check to see if Smiley was all right.
Stafford, who threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns in the Super Bowl win over the Bengals, expressed regret over his reaction while making an appearance Tuesday on wife Kelly’s podcast, “The Morning After.”
“We can’t not talk about what happened,” Kelly started. “There was a photographer, who stepped off the back of the stage, had asked if we wanted a picture and I was like, ‘Yes,’ because looking back at my camera roll I have literally zero of Matthew and I.
When she offered, she stepped back and fell. And it was an awful, awful moment. Matthew looked at me and said, ‘Check her please,’ and turned around.”
Kelly added that after the fall she went “straight to” Smiley, which can be seen in the above video, and “could see that she was OK.”
“We followed up with her, the moment we got in the car, Matthew actually looked at me and said, ‘Hey, will you contact the Rams, ask how she’s doing?’ Did that, they’re like, ‘We think she’s going to be OK.’ We sent her flowers. Next day we wake up, not OK,” Kelly explained.
Smiley would later reveal on social media that she had fractured her spine as a result of the fall. Following the incident, Kelly said that her husband “actually texted her himself.”
Kelly and Matthew shifted gears to talk about the quarterback’s instant reaction to seeing Smiley’s fall. Matthew noted that he wishes he “had a better reaction in the moment.”
“I do know that the reaction that the world saw in that split second, I do know that’s not what you wish would have been your reaction,” Kelly said.
Stafford then replied, “Yeah, I mean, that obviously happened really quickly and suddenly and unexpectedly, and wish I had a better reaction in the moment.”
The former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick added that he apologized to Smiley over text about the way he reacted.
“One of those things you try to train your reactions to be a little bit better next time,” he said.
The Staffords and the Rams organization will be covering Smiley’s medical expenses, telling People in a statement: “As we told Kelly, we will be covering all her hospital bills and replacing her cameras. We wish her a speedy recovery.”
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