Kelly Stafford, wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, documented her daughters’ trip to the hospital and subsequent recovery from high fevers in the lead-up to her husband’s playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.
On Saturday, Kelly Stafford shared a photo on her Instagram Story of two of their four children in a hospital bed, E! News reported. The couple shares four children: twins Sawyer and Chandler, 7, Hunter, 6, and Tyler, 4.
“Last night was long,” she wrote in the now-removed photo. “Back in beds and sleeping, everyone except Hunter. Feels like she drank a Celsius.”
Kelly Stafford had posted a more cheerful image of their children walking with Matthew after the initial announcement, E! News reported, on which she wrote, “Before that tho, they were all smiles getting to go with daddy on his work trip.”
The Rams traveled to Arizona for the NFC wild-card game against the Vikings. The game was moved from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, because the wildfires in Southern California.
Kelly Stafford shared an update about the family Sunday, featuring two of her girls at an Arizona Waffle House on her Instagram Story, writing: “Found our happy place in AZ. I promise we are happy, just still 🤕.”
Though Kelly Stafford did not provide details of the hospitalization, she said in a statement to NBC News on Monday that her daughters insisted on traveling to see their dad play even though they were ill.
“Our girls have high fevers and are not feeling great,” she wrote in the statement. “I asked them if they wanted to go, saying they didn’t have to. Huntie asked, ‘will it be his last game like ever?’ I responded, ‘I don’t know the answer to that babe, but any game could be his last.’ They then all said they wanted to go.”
Kelly Stafford posted additional Instagram stories of her family at the playoff game on Monday night. One post showed one of her daughters in the arms of Matthew Stafford, with a caption saying, “This girl ❤️ In the middle of her pukes in the bathroom, ‘mommy are we still winning?'” She added, “She couldn’t wait to be in his arms.”
A post following showed Kelly Stafford holding her daughter as she leaned over an Arizona Cardinals popcorn bucket with a bottle of water close by, with the caption, “Fun to watch my guy, but damn are we glad that game is over.”
Kelly Stafford recently mentioned that she and two of her daughters had been sick during an episode of her podcast, “The Morning After with Kelly Stafford and Hank [Winchester].”
“I can’t think straight. I currently believe I have the flu,” she said at the start of the episode, which was released last week. “Two of my daughters have the flu, and I wasn’t able to move yesterday at the game.”
Reflecting on her condition during the Rams’ game against the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 5, she said: “I passed out on a little bench in the suite. We had, like, all of our friends in town, and I was a real downer. Body aches are serious.”
The Staffords have also evacuated their home in Southern California, E! News reported.
Matthew Stafford said at a news conference Thursday that he hopes the Rams’ faceoff against the Vikings will be a “great escape for people who have been going through a lot of tough times.”
“We play for the people in this community, the people that support us,” he said. “And this week will be another example of that.”
As the Rams advance to the next round of the playoffs, easily defeating the Vikings 27-9, the family is celebrating the win while continuing to focus on recovery.
“I couldn’t have gotten through this without my husband. We have each other, that’s all that counts,” Kelly Stafford said in her statement. “Praying for the families who might not be so lucky.”