Kelly Stafford isn’t afraid to speak openly about her body image. The wife of NFL quarterback Matthew Stafford reflected on her cheerleading days at the University of Georgia, revealing her struggles with food and the emotional impact of comments made by her coach.

“I was always trying to stay tiny,” she shared on the Thursday, June 19 episode of her podcast The Morning After. “My relationship with food got really toxic while cheering at Georgia—my coach made me feel like I weighed 500 pounds.”

Now 36, Stafford cringed while remembering those college years but managed to inject some humor.

“I look back at those photos now—honestly, I didn’t look big—but the poor guy holding me up looked like he was dying,” she joked. “His veins were bulging, face red—like he was holding his breath. I thought, ‘Yikes.’”

Kelly and Matthew, 37, met as students in Athens while he was a star quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs. They tied the knot in 2015 and are now parents to twin girls Sawyer and Chandler, 8, and daughters Hunter, 6, and Tyler, 4.

“I’ve had to learn to let go of those ideas,” Kelly continued. “I don’t have to be a certain size. What really matters is feeling happy and confident in my own skin.”

The struggle didn’t end after college. Kelly recalled more body image battles during the 2021 NFL season—Matthew’s first with the Rams, when he led them to a Super Bowl win.