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We are hours away from the NFL Draft and it is a big day for the prospects as well as those around them – including the wives and girlfriends.
The draft sees players realize life-long dreams after decades of training, games, road trips, and extra workouts. This week marks a massive step for NFL hopefuls as they await for their names to be called – the signal for one journey’s end and another’s beginning.
For families and friends, the emotions will run as high as their loved ones enter the nation’s biggest league. However, some draftees have the fortune of receiving additional support from their significant others.
Here, Dailymail.com highlights some of the wives and girlfriends of the 2024 NFL Draft.
1. Caleb Williams and Valery Orellana
Former USC quarterback Caleb Williams has been dating Valery Orellana since 2020
Orellana is studying communications and business administration at UNC Chapel Hill
Projected No. 1 pick Caleb Williams of USC has been dating Valery Orellana since 2020.
With a picture of them going to prom as partners, the quarterback made their relationship ‘Instagram official.’ While the post has since been taken down, the pair remain present in each other’s lives, as seen on their Instagram stories, with Valery constantly supporting Caleb through his Heisman-winning college career.
Williams, projected to join the Chicago Bears, already hinted that the power couple will show up tonight in ‘unique outfits.’
Orellana will graduate from UNC Chapel Hill in 2025 and is pursuing a BA in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communications, as well as a degree in Business Administration.
2. JJ McCarthy and Katya Kuropas
Michigan’s JJ McCarthy and his girlfriend Katya Kuropas have been dating for over five years
Shortly after Michigan won the national title in January, McCarthy and Kuropas got engaged
After winning a national championship with Michigan, JJ McCarthy is expected to be a top-five pick in Detroit, with ESPN projecting him going fifth to Minnesota.
Sitting alongside him will be his high-school sweetheart, Katya Kuropas, whom he has been dating for more than five years. Kuropas and McCarthy both attended Nazareth Academy in Hillsdale, Illinois, before the former joined her partner and headed to Ann Arbor for college.
Kuropas was a regular at Wolverines games throughout McCarthy’s career. In January, their relationship took another step when McCarthy got on one knee and the pair got engaged.
3. Bo Nix and Izzy Smoke Nix
Bo Nix’s wife, Izzy Smoke Nix, was a cheerleader at Auburn, where he played for three years
Bo’s move to Oregon did not hinder the relationship as the pair got married in July of 2022
From a pair that will soon be married, to another that tied the knot long before the draft.
In a class filled with quarterback talent, Oregon’s Bo Nix joins the mix with his wife, Izzy Smoke Nix.
The pair met during Bo’s three-year stint in Auburn before he headed to the Pacific Northwest to join the Ducks. Bo and Izzy, a cheerleader for the Tigers football team, started dating during her now-husband’s sophomore year and exchanged vows on July 2, 2022.
While Izzy remained in Alabama after Bo opted to take his talents elsewhere, the happily married couple can now root for the same team – whoever calls Nix’s name.
4. Blake Corum and Makiah Shipp
Blake Corum’s girlfriend, Makiah Shipp, was previously featured on ‘Black Girl Speak’
Shipp, pictured with her beau, is studying for a degree in public policy analysis from Michigan
Another member of the national championship Michigan Wolverines, Blake Corum wins on and off the football field.
While the running back has continued to impress as an athlete, his girlfriend, Makiah Shipp, is quite the catch, too.
Shipp earned a research internship at the U-M School of Education in 2019, which paved the way for her scholarship at Michigan. Shipp’s efforts led her to be featured on ‘Black Girl Speak’ as she works to amplify marginalized voices.
She is en route to completing a degree in public policy analysis this year – which will make Shipp the first college graduate from her family.
Despite being active in their respective fields, Shipp and Corum tend to keep their relationship largely hidden, with only rare glimpses of each other on their respective social media.
5. Brock Bowers and Cameron Rose Newell
Brock Bowers’ girlfriend, Cameron Rose Newell, is an active member in Tennessee’s Greek life
Bowers and Newell began dating in 2021 despite attending different football-mad schools
From prom dates to the NFL Draft – former Georgia tight end Brock Bowers will be joined by arguably his biggest supporter – his girlfriend, Cameron Rose Newell.
The former Bulldog began dating the University of Tennessee student in May 2021.
Hailing from Napa, California, Newell is an active member of UT’s Greek life as an assistant director of recruitment operations for the Kappa Delta sorority. Besides her involvement in the sisterhood, she also worked as an administrative assistant for their family business, Newell’s Property Management.
ESPN projects Bowers to be the tenth pick tonight and join Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets.
