"Part of me feels her whole life was thrown in the washer" - Matthew Stafford's wife Kelly empathizes with photographer whose racist tweets were exposed after Super Bowl parade fall

Kelly and Matthew Stafford on courtside for an NBA game

The 2021 NFL season was a rollercoaster of emotions for the Stafford family. Having to shift base from Detroit to LA following the Rams trade, things worked out in their favor as Matthew Stafford led his new team all the way to Super Bowl glory.

While things worked out on the field, it was unfortunately an incident off the field that dented celebrations. During the Rams' Super Bowl parade, a photographer going by the name of Kelly Smiley fell off a stage amidst the celebrations.

YIKES.😳Rams QB Matthew Stafford walks away after a photographer falls from stage during Super Bowl parade. The photographer @kellysmiley23 later posted that she fractured her spine. (via @LoganTheHammer) https://t.co/P6GvhEf8L6

The Rams quarterback's reaction to the incident was scrutinized as Smiley ended up with a fractured spine. While his wife Kelly checked on the photographer, the Stafford's later said that they would the entire medical cost for Smiley on her road to recovery.

But the internet's feelings towards Smiley soon changed from empathy to disdain when some objectionable tweets from the past popped up.

Kelly Smiley made LOTS of offensive tweets about Black, Asian, and Mexican people. She then went on to use several homophobic slurs. She came after everybody and y’all got that racist homophobe paid by being extra 😒 Stafford was wasted out of his mind and had been up for days

Kelly Stafford hopes photographer has since changed for the better

While speaking to Audacy, Kelly noted that she was well aware of what happened to Smiles since the accident:

"Part of me feels her whole life was thrown in the washer in a way, and I hate it for everybody involved... But I’ll be totally honest: after I heard about the things said by her 10 years ago, part of me wanted to reach out and say I was sorry this is happening, and I hope you’re not the same person now that you were then – and if you are, hopefully this changes you. Everyone makes mistakes, and I wanted to show compassion.”

While she wished to show empathy for Smiles, she also talked about the Rams QB's reaction to the incident as it happened.

“I know Matthew wishes he could take that reaction back, but if he tried to help… if anyone saw or heard him that day, he probably wasn’t in the right state of mind to do anything, and could’ve made it worse... It wasn’t the best reaction, but when we got in the car after, he asked me to text the Rams people and make sure she was okay, and the next day was when we tried to figure out a solution.”

Matthew Stafford isn't a quarterback who has found himself in a lot of controversy over the years in the NFL. But when one finds themselves in LA being the reigning Super Bowl champion, one's every action tends to be scrutinized under the microscope.