Throwback: Kelly Stafford revealed she dated Matthew Stafford's college backup just to make him jealous at Georgia and got backlash

Every love story has its messy beginnings, and for NFL quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife, Kelly, it certainly wasn’t the picture-perfect romance from the start. While the couple eventually tied the knot in 2015 and built a beautiful family together, their early days at the University of Georgia were filled with dramatic twists — some of which have recently gone viral for all the unexpected reasons.During a candid appearance on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s Off the Vine podcast, Kelly pulled back the curtain on how her relationship with Stafford really began. “It wasn’t that cute of a relationship at first,” she admitted. “I hated him, I loved him.” But Kelly didn’t just wait around for things to change. Instead, she revealed using an attention-grabbing tactic to get under Matthew’s skin. “I dated the backup to piss him off, which worked – he was the bad boy too. Matthew’s so sweet and a Southern gentleman and all that stuff. And the backup was the complete opposite, and it upset him.”Kelly’s plan seemed to have the desired effect. She described a moment when Matthew, who lived in the same dorm as his backup — since athletes were typically housed together — waited by her car. “At one point he waited and followed me into the car. I was like, ‘This is amazing, it’s working.’ I was like, ‘Get out of my car.’ He was like, ‘He’s not right for you.’ I was like, ‘What? You can’t tell me that.’”While Kelly never named the quarterback she dated, online sleuths quickly speculated that it could have been Joe Cox, Stafford’s teammate from 2006 to 2008 and the only backup who stayed throughout his Georgia tenure. The internet buzz led to a full-on media frenzy — something Kelly hadn’t expected.Taking responsibility for the unintended spotlight on the Cox family, Kelly issued a heartfelt apology via Instagram. “To this beautiful fam… I am sorry for the media storm that happened last week that made its way into your lives. You had ZERO involvement in what I spoke about and in fact, it was y’alls relationship in college that I looked up to and wanted for me and Matthew.”She went on to express admiration for Joe Cox and his partner, calling their relationship the true UGA quarterback–cheerleader romance everyone assumed the Staffords had.As reactions poured in — including from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who was notably stunned by Kelly’s candor — the takeaway is clear: the Stafford love story is far from conventional, but it’s real, raw, and undeniably theirs. Now married with four daughters, they’ve come a long way from dorm room drama to building a life many would envy.Also Read: Matthew Stafford’s wife Kelly Stafford opens up about using weed gummies to manage parenting stress with four daughters