Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was removed from the COVID/reserve list on Tuesday after his coronavirus diagnosis turned out to be a false positive. That’s not enough for Stafford’s wife, however.
Kelly Stafford posted a statement to her Instagram on Tuesday criticizing the NFL for its handling of the quarterback’s false positive. She decried how her family has been treated since the false positive was discovered, and blamed the league for Stafford’s status going public before it had been determined whether the test results were legitimate or not.
Kelly Stafford with a pretty heated statement about Matthew Stafford’s false positive.
“I blame the NFL for not holding themselves accountable.” pic.twitter.com/u1VWjTuXOD
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) August 4, 2020
The Lions also issued a statement that seemed to indicate some frustration with the testing process as well. While players are placed on the COVID/reserve list if they test positive, they can also go on it if they have been in contact with an infected individual, and the league is not allowed to reveal what reason was behind the placement on the list.
The NFL will have to find a way to deal with false positives. Because teams divulge when a player is placed on the list, it is entirely possible that this will happen again, and Stafford is raising legitimate concerns about the process.
