In his first time addressing his reaction -- or non-reaction -- to a photographer in front of him falling backward off a stage and fracturing her spine at the Rams' Super Bowl parade last week, Matthew Stafford admitted on his wife's podcast Tuesday that he wishes he "had a better reaction in the moment."
“We can’t not talk about what happened," his wife Kelly said, "and we're going to talk about it very quickly."
Kelly said the photographer, Kelly Smiley, "asked if we wanted a picture and I was like, 'Yes,' because looking back at my camera roll, I have literally zero of Matthew and I. When she offered, she stepped back and fell. And it was an awful, awful moment. Matthew looked at me and said, ‘Check her, please,’ and turned around."
When they later got in the car to go home, Kelly said Stafford asked her to contact the Rams to "ask how (Smiley's) doing, and they’re like, ‘We think she’s going to be OK.’ We sent her flowers. Next day we wake up, not OK."
Kelly said Matthew "actually texted her himself" to check in on her, adding to her husband, "The reaction that the world saw in that split second, I do know that’s not what you wish would have been your reaction."
"Yeah, I mean, that obviously happened really quickly and suddenly and unexpectedly, and wish I had a better reaction in the moment. I didn't, and apologized to her for that," Stafford replied. "But all in all, glad she's doing alright. One of those things that you try to train your reactions to be a little bit better next time."
Along with the Rams, the Staffords covered Smiley's hospital bills, telling People magazine in a statement, "As we told Kelly, we will be covering all her hospital bills and replacing her cameras. We wish her a speedy recovery.”