Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford may be surrounded by burly football players at work, but at home, he and his wife Kelly Stafford have four young female teammates.
Stafford invited all five ladies to the NFL honors on Feb. 5 when he was lauded as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
Wearing matching floor-length dresses, the girls — twins Sawyer and Chandler, 8, Hunter, 7, and Tyler, 5 — joined their father on stage as he accepted the award.
“To my four beautiful daughters, who I am lucky enough to be sharing the stage with,” Stafford said to them. “I am so happy to teach the blessings and the lessons of this game to you guys, through you guys. I am so happy to have you at the games on the sideline with me, and I can’t wait for you to cheer me on next year when we’re kicking a–.”
Rams teammate Quentin Lake told TODAY.com on the red carpet last night that people should “look at him as a father and as a man.”
He continued, “There was a video actually that came out a couple weeks ago of him tucking in his girls in bed, and to have that guy not only be one of my teammates but a figure to be a father. He’s an amazing teammate, an amazing person and an amazing father, as well.”
At a press conference following the event, Stafford called returning to the Rams next season “a family decision.”
He said, “This game takes a lot out of you. You saw the people, the four little girls that are standing on stage with me, and I want to be as big a part of their life as I possibly can be, and that’s really important to me. If they weren’t supportive of me playing, I wouldn’t do it.
The MVP continued, “I’m lucky to have little girls that want their dad to do what he loves to do. They love cheering me on and all my teammates. It’s a special thing to have that, but it’s not something I’m willing to lose over a game that I love to play.”