Star NFL quarterback Matthew Stafford and wife Kelly Stafford's relationship can be traced back to their days as college sweethearts.
The couple met as students at the University of Georgia and married in 2015. They share 7-year-old twins Sawyer and Chandler, Hunter, 5, and Tyler, who turned 4 on June 26.
Kelly Stafford told the story of how her and her Los Angeles Rams quarterback husband first became an item in an episode of the podcast "Off The Vine With Kaitlyn Bristowe" released June 11. Her retelling went viral.
"It wasn't that cute of a relationship at first. I hated him. I loved him. I dated the backup to piss him off, which worked," she said.
Keep reading for more on the Staffords' relationship.
2007-2009: Matthew and Kelly Stafford meet, go on their first date
Kelly Stafford posted their relationship timeline on Instagram in 2014.
About a year and a half after Matthew Stafford first saw her, he and Kelly Stafford went on their first date in February 2009. Several months later, in November, they started going steady. By June 2010, they had fallen in love.
Kelly Stafford recalled on the “Off The Vine” podcast that she met her husband while both were attending college at Georgia.
“We met. Talked all night, had a really good time. But, he was a quarterback of an SEC college,” she said.
She said he wanted to casually date as he saw other people, but she thought they were in a relationship.
“He was like, ‘This is fun.’ I was like, ‘Oh, we’re in a relationship. This is great,’ ‘cause that’s all I knew. I didn’t know casual dating,” she added.
2014: They get engaged
According to Kelly Stafford's timeline post, the couple got engaged on March 30, 2014. The next day, she posted a photo of them eating ice cream together.
"Don't think I could be any happier!!" she captioned the post.
2015: They get married
On April 4, 2015, Kelly and Matthew Stafford tied the knot.
In an Instagram post a few days later on April 9, they posed in front of mountains in New Zealand.
2016: They celebrate Matthew Stafford's 100th game with the Detroit Lions
Matthew Stafford was drafted No. 1 in the 2009 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions. On Oct. 23, 2016, he played his 100th game with the organization.
Kelly Stafford celebrated the milestone in an Instagram post.
"Super proud of this man and the team!" she said at the time.
2017: They welcome their first children
Kelly and Matthew Stafford welcomed twin daughters Sawyer and Chandler on March 31, 2017.
2018: They have their third child
On Aug. 16, 2018, the couple had their third daughter, Hunter.
"Hunter Hope Stafford is healthy and adjusting to the role of being a baby sister," Kelly Stafford wrote on Instagram at the time.
"We are smitten by her!" she added.
April 3, 2019: Kelly Stafford reveals she has a brain tumor
Kelly Stafford posted on Instagram in April 2019 that within the previous 12 months, she "began to notice things" that she chalked up to getting older.
"Things that I had been doing my entire life were now, all of a sudden, difficult," she said in her post.
An MRI later revealed that she had a tumor sitting on some of her cranial nerves, she said.
"The medical term they used was an acoustic neuroma or vestibular schwannoma. All I heard was brain tumor & that they had to do surgery to take it out," she said. "So that is what we are going to do & we believe we found the best doctor to do it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely terrified of brain surgery."
She asked for prayers for herself and her family during the difficult time.
April 21, 2019: Kelly Stafford says her surgery was successful
Kelly Stafford posted on Instagram April 21, 2019, that she had had the surgery to remove the tumor. Matthew Stafford was at the hospital with her.
"When they opened me up, I had an abnormal vein," she said. "Maybe abnormal for other neurosurgeons, but not the one We chose. He had seen it before and written a paper on it. That’s truly God’s work."
The surgery was scheduled for six hours but took 12, she said.
"Now I am home and learning my new norm. It’ll take some time, but I really just wanted to say thank you," she said.
2020: Kelly Stafford announces she is pregnant with their fourth child
The Staffords took a trip to Disneyland and Kelly Stafford posted a family photo of their time there in March 2020, revealing her baby bump.
"Got to enjoy one of the most magical places with my husband and 3 of our kiddos. Not pictured: our middle baby girl, Huntie," she wrote.
"Baby stafford #4 due this summer (no worries, well before training camp)," she added. "We won’t know whether the stafford kids will continue as a girl squad or if a little brother will enter the craziness until baby is here. Excited and exhausted!"
Baby No. 4 ended up being another girl, whom the couple named Tyler Hall Stafford. She was born June 26, 2020.
2021: Matthew Stafford is traded to the Los Angeles Rams and later wins Super Bowl
Matthew Stafford requested a trade from the Detroit Lions after the 2020 season after playing his entire career there. He joined the Los Angeles Rams and went on to win the 2022 Super Bowl with them.
As a parting gift, the couple donated $1 million to nonprofit SAY Detroit to build a new education center named after them.
"We came here for football, but we are leaving with a sense of home and endearment," Kelly Stafford said on Instagram at the time.
June 2024: Kelly Stafford goes viral for sharing how she once made Matthew Stafford jealous
In an appearance on “Off The Vine With Kaitlyn Bristowe,” Kelly Stafford said she became involved with Matthew Stafford's backup quarterback in college to make him jealous.
"Matthew’s so sweet and Southern gentleman and all that stuff and the backup was the complete opposite," she said. "Ooh, it upset him."
To clear the air, Kelly Stafford said one day Matthew Stafford waited for her to leave the athlete dorm where he and the backup lived on campus. She was visiting the backup at the time.
"At one point, he waited and followed me out and got in my car and wouldn't get out," she recalled of the moment.
Matthew Stafford told her that the other guy wasn't right for her, Kelly Stafford said before adding that he was dating "Southern supermodels."
"Honestly in the end, when we decided that it was it, it was it," she said of them becoming an item.
"I was always all in," she added.
