The offseason is upon us. This is the time the players’ social media will light up with pictures of extravagant vacations and of time well spent with friends and family. Beaches and ocean fronts are about to become a mainstay of fans’ social media feeds. But do these footballers turn themselves off and stay on those beaches throughout the off-season?
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Well no. Speaking from experience as a retired NFL WAG, Jason Kelce’s wife, Kylie, revealed that things are not as they seem on social media.
During the latest episode of the Not Gonna Lie podcast, Kylie revealed that players and their families don’t go on extended luxurious holidays throughout the offseason. They take a short break and get right back to it.
“Offseason I think lots of people don’t realize that most of the guys are, I mean Jason used to take, I would say only two weeks after the season to just sort of decompress and let his body have a break. He would be right back on his lifting schedule and it’s like four days a week and it’s a regular schedule,” she said on her podcast ‘Not Gonna Lie.’
Kristin Juszczyk, who sat down with Kylie, agreed with her, stating that the offseason is short and players don’t get to turn off completely.
Players cannot slack off and still achieve success during the season. Preparation for a successful season never ends, and players have to keep themselves fit and sharp at least until they retire. Now that Jason has retired, though, one would think he would work out less and go on more vacations. But it seems Jason’s workload in his retirement hasn’t decreased all that much.
Apart from working on his podcast ‘New Heights,’ with brother Travis, Jason was also part of the ESPN lineup for Monday Night Football all season. Not to mention, he’s still working on his fitness.
Jason revealed to Men’s Health earlier this month that he’s still looking to lose some weight after putting on the playoff pounds. As to what his workout looks like, he said, he works on different things during different months: “I could be doing a hypertrophy block for a month. Then there might be an explosive block…”
However, now that his football days are behind him, he’s not looking to lift super heavy, or “max out on bench or squat again.” How much is he lifting then?
“I’m putting 500 pounds on a squat bar and squatting. I still like putting 315, 405 on a bench press bar and repping out,” Jason revealed for those who might be looking to replicate his workouts.
Someone like Tom Brady used to take the offseason workouts up a notch—mixing business and pleasure. During his time in cold New England, he would head down south to Miami to train himself there, and unsurprisingly, players around him like Edelman, Amendola, and Gronk would join him.
He would also focus on his special TB12 diet, which he still does even during the offseason. It’s hard to achieve greatness without going the extra mile.
Seeing how hectic even the offseason is, players have to lean on their wives and girlfriends.
Kylie and Kristin throw light on their role as the NFL Wife
The term WAG—short for “wives and girlfriends” of athletes—has long carried a negative connotation. Fans often associate it with glamorous women who live lavish lifestyles, vacation endlessly, and bask in the spotlight of their superstar partners. However, according to Kylie and Kristin, there’s far more to being an NFL wife than what meets the eye.
Krist stated that, like her, most wives are individuals with amazing careers and lives beyond their husbands’ NFL careers. But still do an amazing job standing behind their man, making sacrifices, and taking care of everything else so that players get to concentrate only on football.
“These women are the backbone of these athletes. They are making everything else spin so they can focus only on their career and being successful on the field. They should be praised for that. It shouldn’t be anything negative. They are holding down the fort, having babies during the season. That in itself is a full-time job.”
Much of the negativity surrounding the term WAG is rooted in misogyny. Many perceive these women as privileged and superficial, assuming they are only in it for money and fame.
This mindset often leads to misplaced sympathy for athletes who commit infidelity or domestic violence, as if marrying a wealthy player somehow means accepting a life of mistreatment.
That’s why it’s refreshing to see Kylie and Krystn challenging these outdated stereotypes and redefine what it truly means to be an NFL wife.
