Kelly Stafford Apologizes to Husband Matthew’s Former Backup Quarterback for Dating Story

After Kelly Stafford revealed that she briefly dated Matthew Stafford ’s collegiate backup quarterback, online sleuths speculated she was referring to Joe Cox — and now she’s apologizing to the Cox family.

“To this beautiful fam … I am sorry for the media story that happened last week that made its way into your lives,” Kelly, 35, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, June 25, denying Cox was the backup quarterback she romanced to make Matthew, 36, jealous. “You had ZERO involvement in what I spoke about and, in fact, it was y’all’s relationship in college that I looked up to and wanted for me and Matthew.”

Kelly first met Matthew when they were students at the University of Georgia, later revealing on the “Off the Vine” podcast this month that they were on and off. At one point, Kelly even went out with Matthew’s backup quarterback to win the Los Angeles Rams athlete back. She did not name the other collegiate athlete at the time.

“You were the couple that everyone thinks Matthew and I was [and] y’all were the UGA QB and cheerleader that met and never let go,” Kelly added on Tuesday, sharing a pic of Cox, his wife and their three children. “I love y’all.”

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In a follow-up Instagram Story post, Kelly noted that she “wouldn’t even address” the alleged drama “if it didn’t affect others.”

“It was so comical the way things were twisted,” Kelly wrote on Tuesday. “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.”

Kelly and Matthew got married in 2015, going on to welcome daughters Sawyer and Chandler, both 7, Hunter, 5, and Tyler, 4. The Staffords relocated from Detroit — where Matthew was playing for the Lions football team — to Los Angeles in 2021 when he was traded to the Rams .

During Kelly’s appearance on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s “Off the Vine” podcast earlier this month, she revealed that it wasn’t “cute” casually dating Matthew in college when she wanted to be in a monogamous relationship.

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“I hated him. I loved him,” Kelly recalled. “I dated the backup to piss him off, which worked. It upset him. It worked, thankfully.”

According to Kelly, Matthew and his backup lived in the same freshman dorm at UGA.

“He would see my car there,” Kelly noted. “At one point, he waited and followed me out and got in my car and wouldn’t get out. [He told me], ‘He’s not right for you.’ Meanwhile, he’s dating 12s out of 10s. … Supermodels.”

She added, “I think if you asked anyone who knew us in Georgia, if they thought we would’ve ended up together with four kids they would’ve laughed their asses off.”