“Marriage is f—— hard. Anyone who tells you differently is f—— lying through their teeth,” remarked Kelly Stafford, wife of LA Rams quarterback Matt Stafford, in an episode of her podcast The Morning After. If this is how the power couple feels after just a decade of marriage, you can bet Kelly isn’t sugarcoating it. To be fair, they do have four daughters, all close in age. So when the NFL star’s wife decides to speak her mind, you know it’s worth listening to. That explains why NWSL veterans Ali Riley and Sydney Leroux went straight to Kelly herself, asking her to weigh in on the stereotypes of being an NFL player’s wife.

Heck, set the NFL aside for a moment and look at sports as a whole. There’s often this perception that while male athletes are out training and performing at the highest level, their WAGs are at home living the good life, hardly lifting a finger. Sure, there are exceptions — many WAGs have careers of their own — but those who don’t are often viewed through a lens of comfort and ease.

Not to mention, how the term “gold diggers” has long floated around the NFL community, fueling controversies and misconceptions — especially when a group of WAGs from the same team are seen hanging out together. Or, as Sydney Leroux and Ali Riley jokingly frame it on their BFFR podcast, it’s almost like something straight out of Netflix’s ‘Hunting Wives’ — where perhaps an affluent social circle of NFL wives has more secrets than meets the eye (at least, that’s how the plot of the series goes).

But Kelly Stafford, who calls herself “pretty old” in this game, is happy enough to clarify such stereotypes. “Sometimes it’s tough to figure out the similarities with the young one or the young wives coming in or girlfriends. But no, obviously, it’s best if we do get together because that’s the community,” began the mother of four.

While it may seem that every WAG gets along with each other like butter, that’s certainly not the case at all. The significant other of Matt Stafford insists that factors like age and interests, especially with the younger ones, sometimes make it hard for certain wives and girlfriends to get along. Then again, that doesn’t mean they all stop trying.

Kelly finds it quite frustrating when people don’t realise how much players and their families move every week of the season in some way or another. While she herself is an old mom player and knows how to manage stuff, the same cannot be said for the new wives or girlfriends, especially those who are raising kids.

That cluelessness — not knowing where to go, where to live, or where to send their kids for the best education — is a completely different ball game. This only makes it “really important,” at least for Kelly, to have a strong community among NFL WAGs.

In that kind of circle, everyone can help each other in one way or another. And while it might seem that for a veteran mother of four, everything would come easy, that’s certainly not the case!

Kelly Stafford lets it all out in candid chat with NWSL veterans

While flushing down all the negative stereotypes surrounding the NFL WAGs, Kelly Stafford didn’t hesitate to underline her own struggles as a mother. “Obviously, being the quarterback’s wife, there is a responsibility there. I do feel like the mom now. It’s not just what’s been thrown at this position in a way. But it’s gotten tough cause I have four kids.”

Be it getting her four adorable princesses to soccer practice on Saturdays or preparing them for school, not to mention how much of a chore it becomes when the Mister is away training, let alone taking care of her own health— “easy” is certainly not in her dictionary. “It’s just a little tougher cause I have a big family that I also need to take care of. But I do my best,” Kelly said.

This is something where she finds the young WAGs quite lucky, “The young ones, yeah, they hang out, they have a time, they look great going to games. I wish I looked half as good as these girls. If I can get my girls dressed, it’s a plus,” concluded Matt’s wife.

So, it seems there’s nothing dramatic brewing like a TV series among these NFL WAGs — much to everyone’s disappointment. Special thanks, of course, go to NWSL veterans Ali Riley and Sydney Leroux.