Kelly Stafford Gets Emotional About Matthew Stafford’s Possible NFL Retirement

For Kelly Stafford, another NFL season means more than cheering from the sidelines. It means holding on to moments that may not come around forever. As Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford enters his 18th NFL season, his wife is choosing to savour every game, every stadium visit and every family moment. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Kelly opened up about why she now approaches each season as if it could be his last, even as Matthew continues to play at the highest level. Her emotional perspective offers a glimpse into the family side of an NFL career.

Kelly Stafford reveals why she cherishes Matthew's NFL journey

Kelly, 37, said her outlook has changed after nearly two decades of watching her husband play professional football. Matthew, 38, was the first overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. He spent 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions before joining the Rams in 2021, where he won Super Bowl LVI.

“Every season now I will say I'm treating it like the last,” Kelly told PEOPLE shortly after the Rams' season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Australia on Sept. 10. “It's been 18 years now. It's been a wild, wild ride.”

The couple, who married in 2015, share four daughters: twins Sawyer and Chandler, 9, Hunter, 8, and Tyler, 6. Seeing their children grow old enough to understand their father's career has made game days even more meaningful.

“Now that all of my girls now understand football and what their dad does... that is truly special ‘cause a lot of guys don't get to this point where their kids are this old,” she said.

Their daughters, meanwhile, are not ready to see their father walk away from football.

“They're the ones that are like, ‘Daddy, you can't not play. What do you mean? You have to play,'” she said with a laugh.

Kelly Stafford plans to savour every game of Matthew's 18th NFL season

Kelly plans to attend as many games as possible this season, knowing each appearance could carry a different meaning if Matthew decides to retire.

“So this season, honestly, we are going to make it to as many games as we can again. You look at every game and you say, ‘Well, this could be the last time that he plays in this stadium,' or, ‘This is the last time he plays against this team.' That's how I'm going to go into it,” she said.

“Who knows if it is, ‘cause I never know. Every year it's surprising to me,” Kelly continued. “I just love watching him play. I really do. It's one of my favorite things in life... to watch him do what he loves, and I will keep supporting him as long as he wants to do it and as loud as I can from the sideline.”

For Kelly, the family's presence at games makes the experience even more rewarding.

“Bringing our girls into it just makes it that much more special to both of us,” Kelly said. “I know he is giddy seeing them before games. It's kind of like a fairytale, to be honest, when we really think about it.”

She knows those moments will be hard to leave behind. “The feeling of taking the girls to the game and watching their dad run over, that fills my soul with so much joy,” she continued. “I'm going to completely miss it when it's gone so much, but I also have to prepare for that moment.”

For now, Kelly is embracing every memory, even as the future of Matthew's NFL career remains uncertain.