The Cardinals' Mike Leach met Julie their junior year in college, and the couple has been together ever since. They have two children, Ryan, 9, and Madeline, 7.
Mike is now in his 16th year in the NFL. As a long snapper, his wife Julie says, he's been able to fly under the radar a bit.
"His position is more of an anonymous one, where the die-hard Cardinals fans will know who he is, but it's not like Larry Fitzgerald, walking down the street and people recognize him," she said. "So we've really had the best of both worlds, in that we've gotten to experience this life, and travel a little bit, and experience different parts of the country. But also have a pretty normal family life."
Julie says the best part about being a football wife is the relationships and friendships they've made. But the worst part is not knowing how long they'll be in one place.
This is Mike's fourth NFL team. Prior to being with the Arizona Cardinals, Mike was with the Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears, and Denver Broncos.
For their kids, the hardest part about football season is actually right now during training camp.
"Especially as our kids have gotten older, they really miss Mike," Julie said. "Even though he's here at the stadium, they have to stay at the hotel up in Glendale, so the kids are always asking, 'When's Dad's next day off? When does he get to come home?'"
But when it's off season, both Mike and Julie are passionate about a product they developed together, one that was inspired by their kids when they were learning how to potty train.
Like most parents, they struggled with it. "Our son wasn't interested in trying and our daughter was an early adopter, but didn't want to follow through so it wasn't fun for her," said Julie.
After searching for something to help with the training and coming up with nothing, the light bulb came on.
"Looks like there's an opportunity and need here in the market, so let's try it," she recalled the couple thinking. "Let's try to make a product that we thought would work for our kids."
So they developed Potty Pals, stuffed animals designed to help toddlers learn how to use the potty in a fun, interactive way by singing and dancing. There are four stuffed animals: Larry Lion (named after Larry Fitzgerald by their kids), Katie Kitty, Penny Panda, and Dexter Doggie.
There's also a book Mike and Julie co-wrote and the animals come with stickers to encourage kids' progress.
The most rewarding part about launching their business is the positive feedback, Julie says.
She recalled one comment in particular: "The parent made some comment about how much it helped their child potty train and I got teary eyed and emotional – all this work and it was so gratifying to see that it actually worked."
To find out more about Potty pals, visit pottypals.com.
