Kelly Stafford shares concern for Matthew Stafford as he enters concussion protocol

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol on Wednesday. According to The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, head coach Sean McVay said it is under the team’s understanding that this happened in the game, but that team discovered symptoms when following up standard checks with Stafford earlier this week.

Given everything surround concussions in the NFL and the potential effects later in life, this diagnosis can not only be scary for the player, but also their family. Matthew Stafford’s wife, Kelly sounded off on the NFL’s concussion protocol and showed concern for the Rams quarterback in an Instagram story shared on “The Morning After” account.

Here’s what Kelly Stafford had to say,

“If you follow NFL, you just heard Matthew got put into concussion protocol. If you have listened to my podcast at all, you know how big of a deal it is to me. The head is not something to be messed with...and I hope that as this sport develops so does the concern for head health and the research around it.

And no, I’m not ok. I have every emotion running through me. Concerned, angry, sad, tired...all of them.

The NFL has been under the microscope this season when it comes to their concussion protocols. Earlier this season, Tua Tagovailoa seemed to stumble in a game against the Buffalo Bills only to return to the game. The following week, Tua was escorted to the hospital after his head hit the turf and his hands locked up, showing signs of “decorticate posturing”.

Following the Tua situation, a very emotional Kelly Stafford said on an episode of The Morning After:

“When I saw that when (Tua) did not move - when he got thrown to the ground a feeling came over me. People truly don’t understand unless you’re in the position that we’re in...It’s something that you never want to see as a significant other on the other side of it.

First of all, I don’t care how bad these guys want to play. I don’t care how bad your organization wants them to play...I went through this with Matthew, it is the NFL’s job to protect the players from themselves...If you know with your heart that they shouldn’t be out there, then they shouldn't be out there...There’s more to life than football.

We’ve had the talk multiple times. If I see you get up and you shake it off or if you don’t really look or seem right and you decide to play again when you know that something’s going on, I won’t be home when you get here. It’s not fair. It’s not fair to ask your family to watch you do that for a game...it really makes you question how much you love this game for your significant other...Now I’m terrified because he has four little girls who need him and I need a husband who has his full brain power because I lose my (expletive) a lot with my kids and he’s the patient one. It scares the (expletive) out of me.”

When a player has a concussion, this is something that can obviously be very scary for the family. Kelly Stafford has every right to feel the way that she does especially when it comes to the NFL’s history with concussions. Hopefully Matthew Stafford is ok and he’s able to fully recover before returning to the field.