Gone are the days where WAGs — wives and girlfriends of professional athletes — are relegated to the sideline as supporting acts.
The likes of Taylor Swift, Brittany Mahomes and Bryonna Burrows are redefining the modern-day WAG, which will be on full display during Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles.
Although the lore of WAGs has been around since the early 2000s — think of Victoria Beckham — the term hasn’t always had a positive connotation. What once pigeonholed and stereotyped significant others as gold diggers or trophy wives devoid of their own identity has evolved throughout the years to represent a wide array of women and partners who are successful in their own right.
Swift has brought a new legion of fans to the NFL. Mahomes co-founded a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) franchise. Rivera Burrows is taking the tech world by storm. Meet the WAGS of Super Bowl 59:
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Kansas City Chiefs
Taylor Swift
Beau: Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce
Taylor Swift, 35, needs no introduction. The 14-time Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter is one of the best-selling music artists in the world with over 200 million records sold. She has released 11 studio albums (in addition to four re-recorded albums), which have spawned a dozen Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles, including ‘Shake It Off’ (2014), ‘Bad Blood’ (2015), ‘Cruel Summer’ (2023) and, most recently, ‘Fortnight’ (2024). Swift wrapped her wildly popular Eras Tour (where beau Kelce made a guest cameo) in December, marking the highest-grossing tour of all time. The Eras Tour is what started the couple’s ‘Love Story.’ They first broke the internet when Swift accepted Kelce’s invitation to watch him play at Arrowhead Stadium in September 2023 after he watched her rock the same stadium on tour. The rest is history.
Brittany Mahomes
Partner: Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
Mahomes, 29, played soccer at the University of Texas at Tyler, where she amassed 31 goals, 16 assists and helped the team to a 56-13-5 record from 2013-16. She finished with the second-most goals scored by a player in Texas-Tyler history. ‘Her competitive nature is one of the many things I love about her. She hates losing and wants to be the best. She works extremely hard to be great and it inspires me to work just as hard,’ Patrick Mahomes said of his high school sweetheart and future wife in 2016, while playing at Texas Tech. After graduating from UT Tyler with a degree in kinesiology, Mahomes briefly played professional soccer in Iceland and became a personal trainer. Her competitive edge din’t end there. Mahomes co-founded the NWSL’s Kansas City Current in 2020.
The couple tied the knot in March 2022 and share three children together — Sterling Skye, 3, Patrick “Bronze” Lavon, 2, and newborn Golden Raye, who was born on Jan. 12 during the Chiefs’ first-round playoff bye.
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Chariah Gordon
Partner: Mecole Hardman Jr.
Gordon is the owner of The Glo Collection, a beauty and wellness brand that creates a ‘space for melanated organic skincare, chic fashion and vivacious femininity,’ the website reads. Gordon is also in her full influencer era and boasts over 200K on Instagram, where she regularly collaborates with brands, including Clarins, Nair, Famous Daves, NYX, Crown Royale in the last month alone. Gordon and Hardman announced their engagement in June 2024. They share two children, including son Three, who was born on Super Bowl Sunday in 2023.
Philadelphia Eagles
Bryonna Burrows
Partner: Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts
Jalen Hurts may have a high-profile career, but his fiancée prefers to stay out of the limelight. The Kennesaw, Georgia native met Hurts while attending the University of Alabama, where she was vice president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council and a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. (Hurts is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.) Burrows graduated cum laude in 2017 with a dual bachelor’s degree in Spanish and political science major. She went on to graduate from Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business with her MBA with a concentration in strategical management in 2019. Burrows accepted a job as a Senior Client Executive Manager with tech company IBM before graduating, her sorority announced at the time.
Burrows made her public debut alongside Hurts on the field following the Eagles’ 2023 NFC Championship win over the San Francisco 49ers. The couple confirmed their engagement to Essence in September 2024.
Ahead of Super Bowl 59 (and Valentine’s Day), Hurts gave a shout-out to his fiancée: “To Bry, the Mrs., thank you for the support, thank you for the love. And thank you for being the rock that I can lean on.’
Anna Congdon
Partner: Philadelphia Eagles RB Saquon Barkley
Congdon grew up in Forest City, Pennsylvania and was the captain of her basketball team at Forest City Regional High School. Congdon graduated in 2016 and attended Penn State University, where she met Barkley. The pair started dating in 2017 and welcomed their daughter Jada in April 2018, two days before Barkley was drafted No. 2 overall by the New York Giants. They also share son Saquon Jr. in September 2022. The couple confirmed their engagement ahead of Super Bowl 59.
Mya Danielle
Partner: Philadelphia Eagles WR Devonta Smith
Danielle graduated from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Lousiana in 2021. The couple, who got engaged in December 2024, welcomed daughter Kyse in October 2023 and are expecting their second child together. Danielle has amassed a combined 94,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok, where she regularly shares beauty, lifestyle and fashion content. Danielle celebrated her first brand collaboration on TikTok last month.
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