Just days after winning a Super Bowl in his first year with the L.A Rams, quarterback Matthew Stafford has turned from hero to villain in the eyes of some.
As his teammates puffed cigars and sprayed bubbly from magnum bottles in a loosely organised party atop a crowded stage covered in confetti, the former Detroit QB inadvertently found himself embroiled in drama.
During the raucous scenes, NFL photo editor Kelly Smiley was apparently trying to get a photo of Stafford and his wife Kelly, when she misjudged how much room she had on the edge of the stage, causing her to fall, which some reports claimed was six feet or more.
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Both Stafford and his wife reacted to Smiley’s fall, however, as his wife Kelly rushed to check on her from the stage, vision caught the signal-caller say “oh my”, before he turned away and took a sip of water.
It’s unclear if Stafford checked on Smiley in the moments after the accident, but according to the photographer the injuries she suffered are serious. A post from Smiley’s Twitter account confirmed she had fallen on both of her cameras and had “fractured my spine”.
The video has gone viral and divided sports fans, with some taking aim at Stafford for not helping.
Radio broadcaster Laura Steele wrote: “I’m sorry but this is horrible! A photographer taking a pic of Stafford falls off stage right in front of him & he just walks away? I know he’s a good guy must have been a momentary lapse of reason?”
SNY anchor Chris Williamson wrote: “When people show you who they are, believe them. Being drunk is not an excuse to not show any concern (I hope he did at some point) for an individual who just fell 8 feet trying to take photos of you and your wife.”
Assistant chief photographer at ABC15 in Arizone Danny Bavaro tweeted: “Annnnnd turns out Matt Stafford’s kind of a jerk.”
Andrew Dyer, a military reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune had this take: “This is so scary. Photographer is Daily Aztec alum @kellysmiley23, a great photographer and even better person. In a tweet tonight, she said she’d fractured her spine. People are yucking it up or dunking on Stafford but it’s not funny.”
While the moment is certainly no laughing matter, Stafford received support from other members of the media, who pointed to the QB’s drunken state as a valid excuse for the miscue.
“It’s a 3-second clip during a moment he was blacked out drunk, man. He might have fell off the stage his own self if he peaked over to look. Unfortunate she fell, but spinning this on Stafford is an odd angle to take here. We don’t know what response was had afterwards,” social and programming manager for The Athletic, Ryan Cole said.
Founder of Downtown Rams Jake Ellenbogen also wrote: “I’m done listening to people criticising Stafford for not helping the girl. I feel awful for her fracturing her spine but if you are going to act like Matthew Stafford’s a bad person now because he reacted an walked away since he was drunk out of his mind idk what to tell you.”
Stafford was seen chugging beers during the bus tour part of the celebrations, and addressed the crowd with a tequila bottle in his hand.
“I’m so damn happy to be up here with you guys, celebrating this s–t,” he said to the crowd.
“Let’s go y’all. I’m gonna bring a little southern hospitality to this. I love this so much. You guys have been unbelievable all year. And you know what? We appreciate you.”
with AP
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