As the intersection of professional football and celebrity culture grows more visible, Camille Kostek, longtime partner of the four-time Super Bowl champion, Rob Gronkowski, is pushing back against one persistent label: “WAG”-short for “wives and girlfriends” of athletes.
For Kostek, who is a successful model and a former New England Patriots cheerleader, the term is reductive and outdated, especially in an era where names like Taylor Swift are altering the landscape of the NFL spotlight.
Kostek addressed the subject and expressed her discomfort with being grouped under a label that overlooks her individuality and professional success to position her as merely the trophy of a man.
“First off, I’ve always kind of disassociated with that word,” Camille told the Let’s Be Honest podcast. “Just because it feels so weird.
“I learned why through the last lot of years, but I don’t know, it’s really weird. I think when you introduce me as a WAG, it’s fine, I think it always depends.”
She acknowledged that while it may seem harmless to some, for women who have built careers independent of their athlete partners, being introduced solely as a “WAG” can be frustrating.
And she also pointed out a double-standard too as she challenged the terminology itself by pointing out there isn’t an equal for men as she asked, “Like, what’s the male version?”
Is the term WAG outdated in modern sports in 2025?
The question becomes all the more relevant in the context of recent NFL headlines surrounding Taylor Swift, who is arguably the world’s biggest popstar and is dating the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce.
With the Grammy-winning artist, who is a billionaire, regularly appearing at the Arrowhead Stadium in support of her tight end boyfriend, the media focus has often shifted toward celebrity partnerships off the field.
As Swift‘s presence brings global attention to the NFL, the question naturally arises: if women like Camille Kostek are categorized as WAGs, what do we call men dating powerful, world-famous women?
It is posing a question that underlines the imbalance in how such relationships are perceived and discussed and about the framing of gender dynamics in the NFL as successful women continue to be associated with their partner’s profession.
For example, in Netflix’s Drive To Survive show covering Formula 1, Geri Halliwell, who is known for her role with the Spice Girls, is introduced as “Christian Horner’s wife” since she is married to the Red Bull team principal.
That’s despite the Spice Girls selling over 100 million records worldwide as the best-selling group of all-time, making her considerably more famous than her motorsports husband.
Kostek‘s ultimate message remains clear: she is not simply an accessory to a football player’s career. She’s an independent professional, and she wants the public, and media, to see her as such.
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