Matthew Stafford’s debut with the Los Angeles Rams went off without a hitch on Sunday, but there was some confusion for the network airing the game.
NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” crew had to issue an on-air mea culpa for misidentifying a seemingly random woman as Stafford’s wife Kelly in the second quarter of the game.
Like Kelly Stafford, the woman also had blonde hair and appeared to support the Rams, but it was still a perplexing mistake.
“You know, we go at warp speed here,” NBC announcer Al Michaels said minutes later. “When Matthew looks at the tape of this game and goes ‘What? That’s not my wife.’ We had somebody else on beforehand. Close.”
Stafford appeared to take the mix-up in good humor, posting a picture of herself and “Wife 2” the day after the game.
One day later, Kelly Stafford provided even more clarity around the situation on the debut episode of her new podcast, “The Morning After with Kelly Stafford.” Her guests for the episode: her supposed doppelgänger and the woman’s husband.
Stafford identified the couple as Ali and Shaun Chapas. She explained Ali is her best friend from high school, while Shaun — a former NFL fullback and Georgia’s current senior director of development — as Matthew’s best friend from college.
“I’m going to bring in some of the friends I’ve been talking about,” Stafford said. “The one is actually wife No. 2 of Matthew’s — if you guys were tuning in last night then you’ll know what I mean — and her actual husband.”
The ensuing discussion covered how the group got to know one another and some rapid fire questions.—Agencies
