Devon Witherspoon and His Girlfriend Started Dating at 16. How Their Love Story 'Aligned Perfectly' Leading Up to His NFL Career (Exclusive)
- - Devon Witherspoon and His Girlfriend Started Dating at 16. How Their Love Story 'Aligned Perfectly' Leading Up to His NFL Career (Exclusive)
Zoey LyttleJanuary 30, 2026 at 5:00 AM
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Nijeria McClain with Devon Witherspoon; Nijeria McClain.
Courtesy of Nijeria McClain
Nijeria McClain and Devon Witherspoon have been dating since they were 16, several years before he was drafted into the NFL in 2023
This is Witherspoon's third season with the Seattle Seahawks, and McClain is excited to cheer him on at this year's Super Bowl
The Seahawks will play the New England Patriots in the championship game on Sunday, Feb. 8, in Santa Clara, Calif.
Nijeria McClain has cheered on Devon Witherspoon at every stage of his football career, starting with his high school gameplay all the way up to his current spot on the Seattle Seahawks. Hopefully, if all goes well on Sunday, Feb. 8, she will get to watch her longtime partner become a Super Bowl champion.
McClain, 24, and Witherspoon, 25, started dating when they were just 16-year-old high school juniors growing up in Florida. They stuck together after graduation, as the talented cornerback went on to play for the University of Illinois and McClain continued her studies at junior college.
Witherspoon was selected by the Seattle Seahawks as a fifth overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, and looking back, McClain tells PEOPLE the major milestone happened "right on time." She had just finished up her associate's degree and was ready to transfer elsewhere. Since her boyfriend was heading to the Pacific Northwest, she decided to head that way too and enrolled at Seattle University.
Nijeria McClain with Devon Witherspoon and his mom.
Courtesy of Nijeria McClain
"Things just aligned so perfectly," McClain reflects. "It was [Witherspoon's] rookie year, so he was still kind of learning the ropes of things, and we were just trying to figure it out. It was just this fresh, new, fun chapter, so things just ended up working out so perfectly."
She adds, "Just being able to know him before football and just see him prosper and take it pro, it was actually insane."
About two and a half years later, the couple has completely settled into life in Seattle (though McClain admits it took her a bit to adjust to the weather, which is so unlike her home in sunny Florida). They're currently getting ready to head to Northern California, where the Seahawks will face off against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
Now that Witherspoon and his teammates are officially the 2026 NFC champions, his girlfriend says she's excited for the "overall experience" of Super Bowl Sunday. She tells PEOPLE that she's excited to be a part of something new, especially while surrounded by so many of her loved ones.
"Being able to spend time with my family and Dev's family and see us get this Super Bowl win, that would just make my life," McClain says.
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The Washington State team hasn't won a Super Bowl since 2014; they last played in the championship game in 2015, that time losing out to the Patriots with a tight score of 28-24. But there's "something magical" about this year, says McClain, and she's felt it since the NFL resumed regular-season play back in September.
"Everybody who I've talked to has said that this season just feels different for some reason. I think that there's this underdog mentality and this go-getter attitude," McClain explains. "I think they started off the season kind of slow, but the momentum picked up ... Things are just going, and they're going the way that they need to."
on People
Source: “AOL Sports”
