Penei Sewell’s wife, Isabelle, Has Definite Feelings About the ‘WAG’ Title
Isabelle Sewell understands life as the partner of a football star. Sewell has been with her husband, offensive lineman Penei Sewell, since he was a college standout at the University of Oregon. They’ve built a life together, are raising children together, and center their lives around the NFL schedule. Isabelle is also thankful for the NFL community she has developed since Penei entered the league. Still, there is one thing she doesn’t love; she doesn’t love being called an NFL WAG.
Isabelle Sewell doesn’t love being called an NFL WAG
Isabelle Sewell has been an NFL WAG since her now-husband, Penei Sewell, was a rookie. The couple, who met as college students, moved to Detroit when Penei was drafted in 2021 by the Detroit Lions. Since then, they’ve married, welcomed three children, and put down roots in the Motor City. Several weeks ago, Isabelle revealed in a chat with People that she has built a village in Detroit and is thankful that her husband’s NFL assignment has been stable enough to allow her to grow a group of best friends in a city where she doesn’t have family.
Despite how much she loves the community she’s built, largely consisting of other Detroit Lions’ wives and girlfriends, she doesn’t really love calling herself a WAG. Sewell told People that while she understands the term has been around for years, she still doesn’t love it. She told the outlet that she thinks it has negative connotations that she’d rather avoid. The partners of NFL stars have varied opinions of the term. Some people, like Isabelle, prefer to avoid it. Other wives and girlfriends have embraced the term and are using it as a springboard to their own pursuits.
Where did the term WAG come from?
With the NFL season in full swing, we’ve seen a lot of the league’s WAGs take a more front-and-center spot in the limelight. In many ways, the wives and girlfriends of NFL players help support the league and have developed their own community, complete with philanthropic efforts and spinoff efforts. To be fair, though, they’ve been doing that long before the term was attached to them. While we talk about WAGs a lot these days, the term is actually fairly new.
The term “WAG” actually originated in Europe in the early 2000s. It gained popularity during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. It was coined as tabloids hurriedly shared news and stories about the romantic partners of soccer stars competing in the event. According to Vox, the term was initially used as a superficial stereotype. WAG was often applied to high-profile, high-maintenance wives and girlfriends, such as Victoria Beckham. By 2010, it crossed over to the United States and was used by news outlets to label the wives and girlfriends of high-profile sports stars. Though it’s most commonly associated with football partners now, the term has been used across multiple professional sports leagues.
In recent years, as the wives and girlfriends of NFL stars have taken a more active role in the public eye, they’ve reclaimed the term. WAG is no longer seen as derogatory by many who live and thrive in the spotlight that the NFL provides. Still, the stereotypes surrounding the term exist, and not everyone loves it.
