Kelly Stafford, the wife of Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, took aim at the NFL over the safety of playing conditions on Thursday. 

Kelly, who has been married to the reigning MVP since 2015, called on the NFL to ban turf at stadiums around the league amid rising concerns over brain trauma injuries among players. 

A new study published this week found that 75 percent of former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2023 had the neurodegenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

Following the bombshell news, Kelly took to her Instagram stories to criticize the NFL for its lack of action over player safety. 

'GET RID OF TURF. PLEASE. / Will it fix everything? No. Will it eliminate injuries? Absolutely not. But my goodness, wouldn't it be a step in the right direction?' the mother-of-four's caption read. 

'You want your "stars" to last in this league? The guys who bring in the viewers, fill the stadiums, sell the jerseys, and make this league billions? Then why aren't we doing EVERYTHING we can to protect them? / We know there are serious concerns about turf and the injuries that come with playing on it. Knees, ankles, ligaments… you name it. / But what really gets me is the HEAD,' she continued. 

'Listen, I know what sport my husband plays. I know what these men signed up for. Football is physical. It's violent. Heads are going to collide. Bodies are going to hit the ground. That part of the game isn't going away…' 

Kelly followed up her message with another post that read: 'But here's the thing… / We can't always control what these players hit. But we sure as hell can control what they land on. / And if there's a chance that changing the surface beneath them could reduce even ONE serious injury, shouldn't we be doing everything possible to make that happen?' 

She claimed that football players grapple with the toll the game takes on their bodies long after the final whistle, as she urged the league to consider the young generation watching the game and aspiring to one day join the ranks of the NFL. 

'I've watched what this game takes from these men,' she added. 'I've seen the injuries, the surgeries, the pain they play through, and the toll it can take on their head long after the final whistle. / And I love this game. Our family loves this game. That's exactly WHY I want it to be better. 

'Because this isn't just about the NFL. It's about the kids watching. The kids dreaming of playing on Sundays. The colleges, the high schools, the youth leagues that look to the NFL to set the standard. / So SET IT.

'You have the money. You have the resources. You have the ability to lead the way. / No, grass isn't going to solve every problem. But doing nothing because we can't fix everything? That's not good enough. @nfl.'

Kelly's husband Stafford, with whom she shares four daughters, has played 18 seasons in the NFL, winning the Super Bowl in 2022. 

The veteran signal caller has been placed in concussion protocol more than once throughout his career, clearly leaving his wife worried about the impact of head trauma. 

And she may not be the only wife or girlfriend of players left in fear following this week's bombshell study, which was published in JAMA Network Open by researchers at Boston University, Mass General Brigham and the Concussion & CTE Foundation.

Some of those same researchers also published a paper in August that estimated one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE.

CTE is a disease that can only be diagnosed after death, meaning research on the subject depends on brains donated by players or their families.

Symptoms include memory loss, depression and suicidal thoughts but it can only be definitively diagnosed after death.

Julia Gallini, the lead author on the paper, said the estimated figure of 75 percent was 'concerning'. She insisted more needs to be done 'to support families, diagnose CTE during life, and treat CTE-related symptoms.'

'Many cases may have been early stage at the time of death and possibly symptom free,' the paper added. 

The NFL, in a statement, said the league 'continuously strives to make the game of football safer, including by implementing strategies to reduce concussions and head impacts. 

'We encourage former players to utilize these resources to identify and seek treatment when they are concerned about their health.'

The NFL Players Association said such studies 'are critical to improving our understanding of football's long-term impacts.'