Kelly Stafford Reacts to Damar Hamlin Collapse in Emotional Message


Kelly and Matthew Stafford.
Duane Burleson/AP/Shutterstock

Talking out. Kelly Stafford, who’s married to Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford, despatched an emotional message to her fellow soccer vital others within the wake of Damar Hamlin’s collapse on the sphere.

“It’s okay to not be okay,” the 32-year-old registered nurse — who has often spoken out concerning the harmful influence of the game — wrote through Instagram on Tuesday, January 3.

“To all the ladies who’ve vital others taking part in on that area … I’m with you if you happen to’re not okay. I’m not okay and I proceed to ask myself the powerful questions,” she continued. “I want somebody would promise us that the folks we fell in love with will probably be those self same folks when they’re completed taking part in this recreation, however everyone knows, it is a promise that may not be made.”

Kelly, who shares 4 daughters with Matthew, 34, famous that simply because “everyone knows how laborious our males work and have labored their entire lives to be on that area … [it] doesn’t imply we all the time should be the robust/by no means break assist. It’s alright to be weak and speak about it, particularly with the person you like most.”

She concluded her message with a prayer for Hamlin, 24, who suffered cardiac arrest whereas tackling Cincinnati Bengals wide-receiver Tee Higgins in the course of the Sunday, January 2 recreation between the Buffalo Payments and the Bengals. “Persevering with to raise Damar up in prayer. Persevering with to raise his household, mates, and teammates up in prayer. And I’ll proceed to hope for all of you. It’s okay to not be okay.”

After the Payments security suffered cardiac arrest throughout Sunday’s recreation, he underwent 10 minutes of CPR till his “heartbeat was restored on the sphere,” the Payments group later stated in a press release. He was then transported to the College of Cincinnati Medical Middle, the place he was “at the moment sedated and listed in important situation.”

The NFL rapidly got here below fireplace after it was introduced that the sport was “briefly suspended” amid the incident, earlier than it was canceled.

Kelly has lengthy been outspoken concerning the demand of the assist and the well being penalties that include it. Two months earlier than Hamlin’s collapse, Matthew was positioned on “concussion protocol” twice in a single month after struggling accidents to his head.

“When you observe NFL, you simply heard Matthew bought put into concussion protocol,” she wrote through her “Morning After” podcast’s Instagram Story in November 2022. “When you’ve got listened to my podcast in any respect, you know the way an enormous a deal it’s to me. The pinnacle isn’t one thing to be messed with … and I hope as this sport develops, so does the priority for head well being and the analysis round it.”

The podcast host added: “I’ve each emotion working by me. Involved, offended, unhappy, drained … all of them.”

She was additionally adamant about altering the taking part in area — actually. “There needs to be no extra turf for the well being of those gamers,” Kelly wrote through Instagram on the time. “Not simply their limbs, however extra importantly their head well being. There’s a massive distinction when a helmet hits grass than when it hits turf.”