He’s the N.F.L. Participant. She Will get the Autograph Requests.

As he waited for a choice from his agent in September, Isaac Rochell, a certified soccer participant in search of a crew, watched the Nationwide Soccer League’s opening weekend video games on tv together with his toddler daughter. His spouse wanted a toddler sitter.

Allison Kucharczyk, Rochell’s spouse and a web based influencer with greater than 3 million TikTok fans, used to be nearer to the sphere than he used to be because of a partnership with NBC Sports activities. She used to be crisscrossing continents on a personal jet with different content material creators to report a weekend of rowdy tailgates, concession meals and stadium environments at N.F.L. video games in Kansas Town, Mo.; São Paulo, Brazil; and Detroit.

Through documenting her way of life as a certified athlete’s spouse, Kucharczyk has transform extra well-known than Rochell, who reached the perfect degree of his game however by no means turned into a family identify. When in combination in public, Rochell stated, other people occasionally ask for Kucharczyk’s autograph as an alternative of his.

“It doesn’t harm my ego — I’m excited for her — but it surely used to be loopy,” stated Rochell, a defensive lineman who has performed for 4 N.F.L. groups in seven seasons.

Because the N.F.L. and its media companions court docket extra feminine audience, they’re more and more aligning with the better halves and girlfriends of avid gamers. (The partnership of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift used to be inescapable final season.) They hope that potential enthusiasts who’re bored to death in sports activities jargon and avid gamers battering one any other at the box may as an alternative reply to clothes ensembles and glamorized studies in luxurious suites.

“When girls see me sharing in regards to the N.F.L., they’re in the end like, ‘Wow I will be able to if truth be told have an interest on this rather then simply stats,’” Kucharczyk, 29, stated. “I feel there’s a spot for everyone inside sports activities.”

She added, “You don’t must be a large identify for other people to be invested for your tale.”

Rochell, 29, performed faculty soccer at Notre Dame and used to be a seventh-round draft pick out via the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017. Whilst he fought to stick on groups’ rosters for a number of seasons, he additionally used to be lively on their social media channels, often volunteering for initiatives. He proposed to Kucharczyk, whom he met at a faculty celebration, whilst they had been recording a Chargers podcast in 2020.

“In case you spend 5 mins with Allison and Isaac in combination, you spot their chemistry and the way authentic they’re,” stated Jason Lavine, the Chargers’ senior vp for logo inventive and content material. “That form of dating is one thing you wish to have to focus on to your feed.”

All through the coronavirus pandemic, the couple posted often on TikTok. Rochell took audience in the back of the scenes of N.F.L. routines, together with the buffet-style meals that avid gamers consume the night time earlier than video games. Lots of Kucharczyk’s posts displayed the fewer glamorous facet of Rochell’s nomadic profession, reminiscent of residing aside and packing to transport towns — Indianapolis, Cleveland, Las Vegas — every time he switched groups.

Whilst 9 months pregnant, Kucharczyk, who had labored as an internal fashion designer, advised fans that she had sobbed when the Las Vegas Raiders launched Rochell in November 2023, weeks earlier than her due date. Kucharczyk, who recognizes that they have got monetary sources no longer to be had to everybody, says the web group she fostered helped her via their chaotic moments.

“I feel sharing makes me really feel much less on my own,” she stated.

Because the couple’s social presence grew, the N.F.L. spotted. The league despatched Rochell a jersey with a “Mr. Kuch” nameplate and Kucharczyk used to be a red-carpet correspondent at a Tremendous Bowl match final yr. The couple additionally participated in a voter registration marketing campaign with former President Barack Obama.

“On this subsequent era of content material creators, they know how they each may also be a hit and what they want to do to enhance each and every different,” stated Ian Trombetta, the N.F.L.’s senior vp for social, influencer and content material advertising.

British tabloids coined the acronym “WAG” (better halves and girlfriends) twenty years in the past to check with the companions of football avid gamers, and several other well-known soccer avid gamers have had similarly well-known spouses. The stick insect Gisele Bündchen used to be a public recommend for Tom Brady earlier than their 13-year marriage ended in 2022, and the singer Ciara married the quarterback Russell Wilson in 2016.

However it used to be Swift’s dating with Kelce that ignited a brand new degree of pastime.

Kristin Juszczyk, the spouse of the San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, began a clothes line this month after designing outerwear for Swift and the Olympic gymnast Simone Biles (who’s married to the Chicago Bears protection Jonathan Owens). Fox Sports activities recorded a section this season with Alix Earle, a TikTok influencer with seven million fans who’s courting the Miami Dolphins receiver Braxton Berrios. And this month, Netflix will liberate a sequence, “W.A.G.s to Riches,” that follows the numerous others of athletes and entertainers, together with Keeta Hill, the spouse of the Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill.

Rochell by no means were given that decision from his agent, however he’s nonetheless coaching in hopes that an N.F.L. crew will signal him. Even supposing he has to retire, the league stated it’ll proceed to paintings with the couple.

“It’s if truth be told more uncomplicated as a result of he’ll have extra time,” Trombetta stated with amusing.