Matthew Stafford's wife skipping NFL season opener after her kids were booed by fans

Kelly Stafford, the wife of Los Angeles Rams star Matthew Stafford, has revealed that she will not be attending the team's NFL season opener as she looks to protect her mental health.

The partner of the quarterback was in attendance in Detroit to watch her husband in action in the wild-card loss to the Lions back in January. Visiting Ford Field alongside their four children, Kelly and her daughters were subjected to boos and jeers from a hostile crowd in Michigan.

Her husband had represented the Lions between 2009 and 2020 after being selected first overall in the NFL Draft - before being traded to the Rams. His departure for Los Angeles proved a fruitful undertaking too as he went on to win the Super Bowl for the first time in his career in 2021.

Now, Kelly has revealed that she will not be making another return to Ford Field in Week 1 of the new NFL campaign as she prepares to watch the game from home instead as the Rams and the Lions face off again. Speaking on Hank Winchester’s The Morning After podcast , she confirmed: "Physically, I am not [attending the game in Detroit].

"After our amazing, amazing live show [on Sept. 7 in Detroit], I’m going to hop on a plane and head home so I can watch it with my daughters here, so that’s the plan," she said, before revealing that her daughters do not want to attend, saying: "I actually asked them if they wanted to go back … and they said ‘no.’

"So that is another reason we won’t be returning for the game. There’s a lot that goes into it… but I just think it’s the better decision for my mental health and for my daughters."

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Kelly also confirmed that the reception she received on her last visit to the stadium is a reason why she plans to miss the game this time around. She said: "My husband doesn’t want to have to hear me be, ‘Ugh,’ upset.

"Not that I think I would be because I also grew in that experience too. You forget that this is football and this is a huge deal in Detroit . I forgot that and I was so emotionally involved that I also forgot this is a playoff football game. I think I would be better at also preparing my daughters in a way but I just don’t think it’s worth it at this point… So it’s just better this way."

She added: "I have such good memories in that dome and the last memory I have wasn’t that great but it was still like, I got to see Detroit for play a playoff game, which was really cool. Because we never got there, a home game, right. So that was really cool for me to see."