So, yeah, Brock Purdy’s girlfriend. Found myself looking her up the other day. It wasn’t like some big mission, you know? Just kinda happened.
I was watching the game, I think it was the playoffs, maybe just a regular season thing, can’t remember exactly. Purdy was all over the screen. You know how it is, the announcers kept hammering his story, Mr. Irrelevant, the whole deal. Then someone, maybe a commentator or just a post I saw online, mentioned his fiancée, Jenna Brandt. The name just kinda lodged itself in my brain.
Later on, probably just killing time, scrolling through my phone during halftime or maybe later that night. Muscle memory, almost. I just typed it into the search bar. Something simple like ‘brock purdy gf’ or maybe I typed ‘jenna brandt’. Honestly wasn’t expecting to find a whole lot, or maybe I was, I don’t know.
What did I find? Well, the usual stuff you get when you search for someone connected to a famous person.
- Loads of pictures. Them together at games, older pics, stuff from her own social media I guess.
- A ton of articles. Mostly talking about their engagement, how they met back in college, Iowa State, I think.
- Basic facts about her popped up too. Like she used to play volleyball there.
Thinking About It
Felt a bit odd, to be honest. Me, sitting there, clicking through info about someone I’ll never meet, just because her future husband is good at football. It’s a strange part of following sports, or just fame in general. We get pulled into these narratives, these lives, and suddenly feel like we need to know the details. Who they hang out with, who they’re dating.
It took me back, actually. I remembered doing the exact same thing years ago. Some other player, maybe a musician, who knows. You fall down this little rabbit hole online, clicking from one page to another, looking at pictures, reading old interviews. And why? What did I really gain? Just burned a few minutes satisfying some nosiness.
It’s just how this whole celebrity machine works, right? Their lives become content. Part of it they share themselves, part of it is just dug up because people are curious. And we just consume it. I did, for ten minutes anyway. Found out her name, where they met, what sport she played. Okay. Got it. Moved on. Seems pretty hollow when you step back and look at it.
