Allison Kuch and the NFL’s Isaac Rochell on Holidays, Parenting and More

Influence Allison Kuh and her husband, an NFL free agent Isaac RochelI have a lot to look forward to this holiday season with my daughter, Scottie.

“I think the holidays will be more special, and I love the holidays from the moment they start,” said Kuch, 29, speaking to Us Weekly exclusively at the Complete Holiday Dinner in New York City, where the couple debuted the Mac & Cheese x Corn Bread recipe mashup. “I think that what we want to use with them, even as adults, they may not understand now … ) is an open-door policy. So, I’m excited about it.”

Rochell, 29, added that nothing “brings people together” like a baby us“I think for him, seeing the gift of family is huge.”

The couple, who have been married since 2021, welcomed Scottie in December 2023. A month before becoming parents, the couple hit an unexpected roadblock when Rochell was released from the Las Vegas Raiders. However, his free agency has come with a silver lining.

“Like, what’s the worst scenario if I’m not signed? At home with my daughter,” he explained, telling us he is “super thankful” for the extra time he has been able to spend with Scottie. “For example, training camp, I’ve been going for six weeks straight. I’m not going to spend time (with him), because I’m going to go somewhere random, so it’s probably just time away from him.

He continued, “Especially as he gets older, like, he just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and I’m just like, ‘Man, I’m so thankful we get to spend so much time with him.'”

Kuch agreed, teasing that she “never thought” gratitude would be one of the emotions she felt after her husband lost his job. “I really appreciate all the time we get,” he said us. “He learns something new every day.”

Rochell was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 and stayed with the team for three years before moving on to the Indianapolis Colts. He played briefly with the Cleveland Browns in 2022, signing with the Raiders shortly after his contract with the Browns was terminated.

For years, Rochell and Kuch planned to live out the football season, but the athlete’s free agency changed the schedule they were used to. While Kuch admits he sometimes misses the “rhythm” of the NFL season, he welcomes the change ahead of the holidays.

“For the past seven years, we have spent all the holidays with Isaac’s friends who have since become friends and family,” she said. “But now we have a different holiday with our daughter, and I know our whole family wants to go out for the first holiday. So it will be different, but I think it will be very different.

Rochell points out that, including his college career, it’s been “11 years since I’ve really been on vacation.” They even played on Christmas Day, which Kuch is glad won’t happen this year.

“Be quiet,” he said with a laugh. “So if you’re not on the team, I hope you don’t spend the holidays alone.”

Kuch previously opened up about his wife’s possible retirement from the NFL, insisting during a recent episode of the “Sunday Sports Club” podcast that it “doesn’t make sense” for him to hang up his cleats now. He told me us navigating free agency has been a “hard situation” for the couple, but they are trying to make the most of their time together as a family.

“Maybe I’ll get in tomorrow, I don’t know,” Rochell said us. “But if I don’t go in, I hope to come with people (during the holidays).”

Rochell may not be playing on the field at this point in the football season, but he and Kuch still incorporate the game into their festive tradition. “We’re still a sports household,” Kuch said us. “We both love watching football, so it’s always going to be on TV.”

When preparing for Thanksgiving, Christmas and more, Kuch and Rochell collaborated on a recipe that tests the Ultimate Finish in the toughest cleaning conditions – from burnt stains to old dishwashers and hard water – without pre-washing. “Those are two of Isaac’s favorite side dishes,” Kuch said us from the Mac & Cheese x Cornbread mashup. “He was like, ‘You know, it sounds perfect together.'”

Rochell added that combining “two holiday classics” felt “right,” jokingly referring to his wife as a “backseat stove.”

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