The 2021 NFL season is officially off and running and it did not take long until we had our first broadcast production gaffe.
Matthew Stafford made his debut with the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night in primetime on NBC. Much of the broadcast and commentary from Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth naturally focused on the new Rams quarterback.
At one point, while discussing Stafford’s time with the Detroit Lions, NBC showed a split screen of Stafford and a young blonde woman in Rams gear who the production team thought was Stafford’s wife, Kelly.
Michaels even interrupts himself to add, “as his wife Kelly looks on,” but the only problem is that was not Kelly Stafford.
Kelly Stafford has always had a somewhat public presence throughout her husband’s career so many on social media, particularly Lions fans, were quick to point this fact out in what quickly became a viral blooper from the broadcast.
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NBC did recognize their mistake and corrected it a little while later, showing the real Kelly Stafford. The other woman was apparently a friend sitting with the Stafford family.
That still didn’t stop many from trolling NBC for mixing them up.
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