Ed, born in Louisiana and raised in Texas, received his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University in 2021. After graduation, he decided to stay at school for another year, hoping to make it to the NFL. He declared for the draft in 2022 and chose to train at Sports Academy that same year, working with an offensive line trainer he had worked with in college. Once again, God's hand was at work, as this is where his path crossed with Jesey's. To this day, Ed says he remembers Jesey’s outfit and knows the exact spot where she was standing when they first met—proof that from the very beginning, something special was at play.

Jesey, born and raised in California, received her bachelor's degree from California State University-East Bay in 2020. After graduation, she moved to Dallas, TX, to attend Texas A&M Commerce for her master's degree. During her final semester, in order to receive her degree, she needed an internship. With time running out and feeling the pressure, she stumbled upon an ad on Indeed for an internship at Sports Academy. Little did she know, this was all part of God’s plan. It was during her first week of interning that she met Ed. What started as a friendship quickly grew into something deeper. The rest, as they say, is history.

We first crossed paths at Sports Academy, where we were just two friends hanging out in group settings—no big deal. At the time, we were both happily (or so we thought) dating other people. But after Ed got drafted to the NFL, we stayed in touch, though *ahem* Jesey may have reached out to him a bit more than he did to her. I mean, someone has to keep the conversation going, right? We’d check in with each other every couple of months, FaceTiming here and there, but after Ed’s second year in the league, he came home for the off-season, and suddenly we were hanging out WAY more than we ever had before. Coincidence? Maybe. Were we both single at this point? Oh, definitely. *Just saying.* One night, we were on FaceTime and Jesey casually invited him to California for her birthday, not thinking much of it. Just a friendly offer, right? WRONG. Ed, being the *very* sneaky guy he is, said yes and booked a flight. Jesey was shocked and, let’s be honest, terrified. This would be the second time we’d ever hung out one-on-one—so naturally, she was more than a little nervous. We still had a lot to learn about each other. While in California, Ed met all of Jesey's friends and family (which, by the way, *wouldn’t* have happened if she had known he was already secretly in love with her—jk, kinda). And Jesey? She still didn't catch on to his little crush. But after the trip, *multiple* family members asked, “Are you sure you two are just friends?” Jesey was like, “Uhhhh, yeah... why?” Turns out, Ed had a *little* crush on her all along and went on the trip to see if he could picture a long-term future with her. What a sneaky, sneaky guy.