Rams' Matthew Stafford Struggling to Connect With Young Teammates, Wife Kelly Says

Stafford’s wife Kelly says he’s had a difficult time connecting with some of his younger teammates.

Matthew Stafford is gearing up for his third season with the Rams, with the team’s regular season opener just two weeks away. 

Final roster cuts are just around the corner, and Los Angeles figures to be one of the youngest teams in the league. That’s something Stafford has apparently struggled with, according to his wife Kelly.

During a recent episode of her podcast, The Morning After With Kelly Stafford, Kelly revealed that her husband has found it difficult to connect with some of his new, young teammates.

More: Conor Orr Predicts All 272 Games of the 2023 NFL Season

“It’s kind of crazy. So Matthew’s been in the league a long time. He’s like ‘The difference in the locker room has changed so significantly.’ They have a lot of rookies on their team, they’re very young. But he’s like ‘I feel like I can’t connect. In the old days you’d come out of practice, you’d shower, and people would be playing cards, interacting... But now they get out of practice, and meetings during training camp, and they go straight to their phones,” said Kelly.

“They say ‘Sir’ to him and sh**. He’s like ‘No, we’re on the same level here, we’re both playing in the league. Let me get to know you.’”

The Rams had 14 picks in the 2023 NFL draft and currently roster 22 undrafted free agents, too. While that number will shrink following final roster cuts, they’ll still be a young team compared to the rest of the league.

Stafford, 35, is entering his 15th season in the league. The only other player on the roster with 10 or more years of experience is superstar defensive tackle Aaron Donald. There are only four other players on the team 30 years old or older; Donald (32), Rob Havenstein (31), Cooper Kupp (30), and Tyler Higbee (30). 

With so much young talent in the mix, Stafford is still trying to find ways to connect with his teammates, something that seems to be proving challenging for the veteran quarterback.