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Matthew Stafford at the Los Angeles Rams victory celebration
Photo:
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
NFL star Matthew Stafford recently made sporting headlines when the quarterback led his Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl triumph over the Cincinnati Bengals in his own stadium.
Now, a video of the Victory Parade that took place in LA on Wednesday brought some criticism to Stafford: The recording shows NFL photographer Kelly Smiley falling off a stage right in front of Stafford.
As Stafford's wife Kelly rushes towards the fallen, the Rams playmaker turns away almost casually.
The scene had already been viewed almost eleven million times on Twitter by Friday morning (CET), and numerous commentators were irritated or annoyed by Stafford's behavior.
Others attributed the Rams star's perceived indifference to Stafford apparently getting heavily drunk during the victory celebration - a fact that prompted recently retired quarterback superstar Tom Brady to recommend that Stafford drink water too.
Smiley suffered serious spinal injuries in the accident, and later shared on social media that all of her camera equipment had been destroyed in the fall.
However, the photographer will not suffer any financial damage – thanks to Stafford: As the quarterback and the Rams later announced, Smiley had been contacted and would pay for the hospital bills and replace the destroyed cameras.
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