NFL

NFL Wives Start Company To Prevent Players From Cheating, But Will It Work?

It’s no secret athletes can have trouble with infidelity, and a few wives and girlfriends of current and former NFL players know the toll their significant others’ careers can take on a marriage – so they’re doing something about it, though some remain skeptical if it’ll be effective.

What they did, exactly, was create a company called “Off The Market.” Here’s how it functions:

Off the Market sponsors invitation-only gatherings for NFL couples, allowing them to socialize on the road, bonding others so they can sustain a “positive, healthy, sexy, fun relationship.”

Sounds like a fun idea – they held one event in New York and another is coming up in St. Louis, where Fred Robbins, husband of Off The Market co-founder Tia Robbins, plays for the Rams – but ironically-named psychologist Richard Lustberg isn’t sure they’ll deter cheating.

The group also offers opportunities for businesses to target athletes — from upscale hotels to wealth management companies and exclusive travel agencies.

But giving sponsors access to their marketable husbands seems a bad idea, giving their hunky hubbies [ed. note: ugh] even more temptations.

“Their capacity to meet people is greater, so ultimately that creates more opportunities,” said Lustberg. “If you drive a car 50,000 miles a year, you are going to have more accidents.”

This is true, as is this sentiment from psychologist Sel Lederman: “[Athletes] have to put in a lot of effort and think, ‘I earned it. I did the time.’ They think they should get the fun and the glory, or the respect or the adulation or the money.” Indeed, that respect, adulation and money has to rank awfully high on the list of reasons why pro athletes work so hard to reach that level.

We’ll applaud the effort of Off The Market, and giving couples a greater sense of community might help. But ultimately, we’ll also agree with Jezebel and acknowledge that cheating is a personal decision, and a fun event won’t change that. Ultimately, this is on the couple to not enter into a committed relationship unless they’re sure it’ll stick…and the founders of Off The Market might be the ones who need help in that area least.

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