Isaac Rochell on the State of His NFL Career, Being a Stay-at-Home Dad and His Goals for the New Year (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Isaac Rochell.Photo:Bryan Steffy/Formula 1 via Getty

Bryan Steffy/Formula 1 via Getty

WhenIsaac Rochellbecame a free agent in November 2023, he saw an opportunity to explore his options.

While his career with the NFL is still up in the air, the former Las Vegas Raiders defensive end has discovered two more passions: fatherhood and content creation.

“I’m enjoying being home with my daughter. And if I got a call tomorrow, would I go? Absolutely. But in the meantime, it’s really nice being home,” Rochell, 29, who shares daughterScottie Bee, 11 months, with wife Allison Kuch, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

He continues, “I think for Ali and I, we’re both just embracing the journey that we’re on. That’s literally been what the NFL has been since day one. This is a chapter of it that isn’t fun at all, but it is part of the NFL.”

“I’ve had years where I started and had a great season, and then I’ve had years where I’m like, ‘This is trash. I don’t want to go into the facility today.’ And just seeing people follow the journey no matter what, understanding that people are less concerned with me being a football player and more concerned with who I am and how I present myself on social media,” he says.

Isaac Rochell in 2021.Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty

Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty

Kuch was the “catalyst” for it all, he says, but Rochell did learn a thing or two about “branding yourself” since his days as a college football star at the University of Notre Dame.

“They always told us when we’d have meetings, they’d be like, ‘Make sure you brand yourself. Nothing’s more important than your brand.’ And there’s not really many avenues to brand yourself in today’s world outside of social media if you want to immediately reach people,” he recalls.

Adding, “So for me, when Ali was blowing up… I was like, ‘I should definitely take advantage of this and give some behind the scenes with football in the NFL.’ "

There weren’t many NFL players sharing their lives on social media at the time, so he “took advantage” of it and the journey “paved its own way.”

Now, Rochell has new plans in the works: he wants to start a podcast where he can have “very real conversations with people.”

“A huge part of what I do on social media now, especially on my Instagram, is just kind of being the catalyst for some of these more intense conversations about politics, pop culture, whatever it may be, so I want to sit down and talk to people in these different spaces,” he explains.

Allison Kuch and Isaac Rochell.Stefanie Keenan/Getty

Stefanie Keenan/Getty

Meanwhile, Kuch recently opened up to PEOPLE about navigating the outside opinions on social media.

“If you look at Isaac’s career, he’s had a very successful run in the NFL,” she told PEOPLE inNovember. “There are obviously ups and downs in a professional athlete’s career, but after seven years, we can both look back and think, ‘Wow, that’s been great.'”

“We know that seven years in the NFL is very rare, and we are aware that retirement is on the horizon,” she continued. “However, when I share that free agency is hard, I often face opinions like, ‘Oh, he’s done. Just get over it.’ People don’t understand… our entire relationship has revolved around football.”

“I also think we’re getting a glimpse of what life after football could look like, and that’s a positive thing, too,” she noted.

source: people.com