Christen Goff’s Motherhood Era Is Her Most ‘Transformative’ One Yet

The six-time SI Swimsuit model dishes on how becoming a mom has made her more confident and ambitious.

On Sundays during the fall, you’ll find Christen Goff at Ford Field, cheering on her husband, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. The 2025 season looked a little bit different for the SI Swimsuit model, as she had a brand-new cheerleader in the stands alongside her: the couple’s infant daughter, Romy. 

Goff, who knows the team’s plays like the back of her hand, says having Romy with her on game day has brought her a sense of ease, helping to calm her typical superstitions—like rotating seats or wearing lucky socks. 

“I feel like Romy’s been the best distraction in the best ways, so she’s just along for the ride, and I’m realizing that football is amazing, but it isn’t everything, and it’s given me great perspective,” Goff tells SI Swimsuit.

The model has been a staple in the annual SI Swimsuit Issue ever since she co-won the Swim Search open casting call in 2021. The following year, Goff earned co-Rookie of the Year honors. Over the past five years, she has traveled to Atlantic City, Barbados, Dominica, Portugal and Jamaica for her features in the fold. 

And this month, the 32-year-old California native landed on the cover of SI Swimsuit’s February 2026 digital issue alongside five other women: Brittany Mahomes, Haley Cavinder, Ronika Love, Claire Kittle and Normani. Last month, the group traveled to Captiva Island in the Fort Myers, Fla. area, where they were each photographed by Katherine Goguen.

Christen Goff was photographed by Katherine Goguen on Captiva Island, Fla. / Katherine Goguen/Sports Illustrated

This is the first time Goff stepped in front of the SI Swimsuit lens since becoming a mother. She and Jared welcomed Romy in July 2025, and she was 18 weeks pregnant during last year’s shoot in the Caribbean. Goff has discovered a new self-assuredness through motherhood, which she is excited to showcase with her digital cover spread. 

“This [past] year has been such a transformative year for me. Being pregnant and becoming a mother, I think I have such a newfound confidence,” she says, adding she felt a bit unsure of herself on location last year. “There was so much ahead of me, so much change ahead of me. And this year, I’m stepping in just feeling like I know all those answers to those questions I had last year.”

Much of that confident nature comes from Goff’s ability to be gentle with herself while she embraces this new season of life. It also stems from a lifetime of allowing herself to discover what truly brings her joy—like her volunteer and advocacy work with organizations like Forgotten Harvest and Detroit Lions Academy.

“It’s such a big transition becoming a mom, whether you’re talking about mentally or physically, I think you go through so much, and I’m so much more proud of myself than ever,” Goff says. “And I think I’ve also given myself so much more grace and room to just kind of be in this new state of being a mom and what that means to me.”

Christen Goff was photographed by Katherine Goguen on Captiva Island, Fla. / Katherine Goguen/Sports Illustrated

Motherhood has allowed Goff to pour into something outside of herself, and in slowing down, she’s also been saying “yes” to new career opportunities outside of modeling. In December 2025, she joined Southeast Michigan’s Brilora Fertility Clinic as a board director. Goff is making a major impact in her role already, having recently helped two young women with cancer freeze their eggs for future family planning purposes. 

Along with the five other women who make up our February 2026 digital cover, Goff is not just sitting on the sidelines: She’s taking up space and making the world a better place through her work. While each of these six women are the wives and girlfriends of NFL players, they are so much more than their “WAG” status.

“I mean, you look at women like [Off Season cofounder] Kristin Juszczyk—there are just so many women who are doing amazing things,” Goff says. “Yes, maybe it’s the platform that they have because they’re associated with their husband or boyfriends, but seeing what these women are doing with that is incredible. They’re creating businesses, they’re creating brands, they’re connecting with women across the country. They’re doing all these incredible things because of this situation that they’re in.”

Goff has entered 2026 feeling more ambitious than ever, and she hopes her latest SI Swimsuit feature will encourage fellow women to embrace and love themselves through every stage of life—no matter where their journey takes them.

“Becoming a mom, sometimes it feels easy to lose who you are,” she says. “I think shooting Sports Illustrated [Swimsuit] this year is really important to me, because I’m still me.”

Click here to view Christen Goff’s full SI Swimsuit gallery.