Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff’s wife, Christen Harper Goff, slayed a 2024 Sports Illustrated Swim photo shoot while in the middle stages of her pregnancy — and no one even knew she had a little one on the way.
“I actually shot Sports Illustrated this year [when] I was 18 weeks pregnant,” Christen, 31, said on the Sunday, May 11, episode of the “Sunday Sports Club” podcast. “I was really at this weird time, where I couldn’t really suck it in anymore, but also when I tried to stick it out, like, it wasn’t a real belly.”
She added, “I was bulking for my shoot, it was crazy. It’ll be so fun to look back on those images because she was in there. That shoot, I will say, was the most challenging ‘cause I was in this weird transition. I didn’t fully feel like myself, but I didn’t have this bump yet that I was super proud of and could see her and feel her.”
Christen shot her Sports Illustrated Swim spread in Jamaica late last year.
“I just [felt] a little bloated,” she jokingly recalled. “Can’t have a margarita and I’m supposed to be in a bikini. … It was a really weird in-between [period] [and] in the beginning part, you’re just getting to know your body and seeing it change.”
Christen, who is now in her third trimester, announced her pregnancy in February when she and Jared, 30, attended the annual NFL Honors ceremony.
“It was good timing for us. We had just finished the season,” Christen added, referring to Jared’s latest year with the Lions. “I didn’t do any cute photo shoot yet or anything, so I’m, like, ‘Whatever, just going to go old school.’ It was honestly, like, the easiest, chillest and it was, kind of, fun because we got to talk about it in person that night.”
As Christen and Jared — whom she joked was on ChatGPT every day trying to find stroller recommendations — prepare to welcome their daughter, she remains on the fence about taking on modeling gigs postpartum.
“I think I’m just going to see how I feel,” Christen admitted. “I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I recognize that things change, and I don’t know who I’ll be on the other side of all this, but I’m definitely open to the idea. It would be so fun to maybe come back and do Sports Illustrated again — or not and just go out with a last hurrah.”
While her modeling future remains uncertain, Christen is looking forward to meeting her first child and bringing her to Jared’s football games during the upcoming season.
“I’m really excited to have a baby with me because I feel, like, it’s gonna be a very good distraction [for when I get stressed during quarters],” Christen quipped. “I’m excited to have a little buddy that’s going to be distracting me on game days.”
Christen also can’t wait to dress her little girl in team merch.
“People have gifted us a few cute ones,” she added. “I want, like, a full lion costume. I want to hold her up [like The Lion King] because you know on game days [fans] hold them up. I can’t wait to do that with her.”
