Lainey Wilson surprised her legion of stans last year when she revealed she had been secretly dating former NFL player Devlin “Duck” Hodges since 2021! The country music star made her red carpet debut with Duck in May 2023 and later revealed they had been together for quite some time during a June 2023 episode of The Bobby Bones Show. “He’s been around for a while. I just decided to make him wait for two and a half years,” Lainey joked.
“But I’ll tell you, he is good as gold,” she gushed. “Supports me, would never come in between anything that I’m trying to do. He’s like, ‘Go get it, girl.’ And I made him wait for a while. I mean … it’s been a little over two years now.”
Now that the cat, er duck, is out of the bag, let’s learn more about the man who stole the “Things a Man Oughta Know” singer’s heart, below.
Devlin was born in Alabama on April 12, 1996. He became a star athlete in high school before taking his talents to his home state college of Samford, where he excelled as a quarterback and was named the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year three times. In 2019, he was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He then had a run at the LA Rams before a quick turn in the Canadian football league with the Ottawa Redblacks. On April 22, 2022, the Redblacks announced that Devlin had retired from professional football.
The pro football experience has helped Devlin support Lainey, as she said he understands what it’s like to pursue one’s passions.
“He knows what it’s like chasing a dream because he’s done that for himself,” she said on The Bobby Bones Show. “He was in the NFL. He tried out literally for the Steelers and made it and had a really great run with them. Went out to LA Rams and did that.”
