Instagram Will Grier with wife Jeanne Grier and daughter Eloise.
Will Grier lives a bit of a different life than the majority of college football quarterbacks. Will lives with his wife, Jeanne Grier (formerly O’Neil), and the couple has one child, Eloise. When Will was suspended for a year during his short stint at Florida, Jeanne stood by him as his father, Chad Grier explained.
“She was there for him in his dark days and their relationship is really strong,” Chad told the Charlotte Observer. “It’s a friendship as much as anything. You want your kids to marry their best friend.”
Will is one of the top NFL prospects, and the quarterback treats football like a full-time job.
“We call it going to work,” Chad explained to the Charlotte Observer. “He gets up early, makes his coffee, kisses his wife and baby goodbye and goes to his office. It just happens to be the field house. He goes to work and loves it. He tells me, ‘Dad, I’ve been to college. But this is business.’ ”
Learn more about Will’s wife and daughter.
1. Jeanne Is a Former Tampa Bay Bucs Cheerleader
Prior to moving to West Virginia, Jeanne spent three seasons as a Tampa Bay Bucs cheerleader and a full-time professional dancer. Jeanne joked she “retired at 21” on one of her Instagram posts.
“Good luck to all the talented ladies auditioning today #RetiredAt21,” Jeanne posted back in 2016 along with a photo from her cheerleading days.
These days, Jeanne stays connected to football through West Virginia games, but she could be back in an NFL stadium soon. Will is widely regarded as one of the top NFL prospects.
2. Will & Jeanne Have a Daughter, Eloise, Together
When Will is not running West Virginia’s offense, his days are full of cartoons and diaper duty. Will and Jeanne have one two-year-old daughter, Eloise. ESPN detailed Will’s life when he is on dad duty.
On a stiflingly muggy late-June evening in Morgantown, Grier, 23, is content to park his 6-foot-2, 212-pound frame on his couch, a polka-dot blanket draped over his torso and a toddler trapped between his knees. “She’s a mess,” he says with a laugh, then frees Ellie, his 19-month-old daughter.
Next to Will, on the couch, rests a plush Moana; a few feet away, a stuffed Olaf perches on a white cubby. (“We’ve watched all of these, like, five times a day,” he says, waving toward the animated menagerie. “I’m a huge Despicable Me fan.”) And on the TV mounted over the fireplace, Rapunzel from Tangled is frozen midsong, happily paused in her tower. As Ellie runs circles around the coffee table with Jeanne in her wake, Will — stationary, mostly quiet — practically recedes into the background.
3. The Couple Met at the University of Florida
Will started his college career at Florida, but things took a turn after testing positive for PED’s. After serving a year-long suspension, Will ended up transferring to West Virginia. It was not all bad in Gainesville as Will met his future wife at the University of Florida. Jeanne detailed on her website how the two met before moving to West Virginia.
My name is Jeanne Grier and I’m married to my absolute best friend in the world, Will. We met at the University of Florida, where his collegiate football career started. I transferred to UF to finish my degree after three seasons as a NFL Cheerleader and full-time professional dancer. About two years after we started dating, we became parents to our beautiful daughter, Eloise. Now our family of three lives in Morgantown, West Virginia while Will plays quarterback for WVU- Go Mountaineers!
4. Will & Jeanne Enjoy Singing Rap Songs Together
Jeanne notes she sees a different side of the West Virginia quarterback than most people. When Will is at home, his family gets to see his lighter side. Fans may not know Will’s affinity for rapping.
“I know a completely different Will than everyone else,” Jeanne explained to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “He leaves football at the door when he comes home. We enjoy Netflix. We cook dinner together. We dance around the kitchen to rap songs. It would blow your mind to know how smart and funny he is. He can make me laugh like nobody else in the world. And we share the same sense of humor.”
5. Jeanne Called Moving to West Virginia From Florida a “Culture Shock”
Jeanne admitted it was a bit of an adjustment moving from Florida to West Virginia, but the family has come to call the area home.
“If you’d have asked me four years ago if I’d ever live in West Virginia, I wouldn’t even know what to say,” Jeanne told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “I’d never been to West Virginia. I’d never even been through the Northeast. So it was a culture shock coming from Florida. But West Virginia probably has the nicest overall people I’ve ever met in my life. You can go anywhere and strike up a conversation. So it was a pretty easy transition. Hard, but the people made it easier.”