They first crossed paths during mandatory study hours at the athlete academic center at Pennsylvania State University. Years later, they’re preparing for the biggest stage in football together-just from different vantage points.
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Chris Stoll, now with the Seattle Seahawks, met Maddie Stoll when both were student-athletes at Penn State. He played football; she starred in women’s soccer. With roughly 800 athletes on a campus of nearly 46,000 undergrads, their schedules naturally overlapped.
You just kind of migrate towards the people that are doing the same thing on the same schedule as you
Over time, shared events and friend groups turned familiarity into something deeper. For Maddie, sports had been a lifelong calling. Raised in a family of athletes, she tried everything from basketball to softball before soccer took center stage. By eighth grade, she was traveling two hours on weeknights to Detroit to train.
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“My parents would drive me… so that I could pursue my soccer career. I owe them the world.”
She went on to win national titles with the Michigan Hawks and later captained Penn State’s soccer team, collecting Big Ten championships and lifelong friendships along the way.
“That’s what makes sports so amazing… competing for these other girls and women that you love.”
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After graduating in December 2021, Maddie accepted a job offer in Oregon. Chris stayed back to prepare for the draft and eventually signed with Seattle as an undrafted free agent. What looked like geographic luck still required patience: the couple did long distance for two and a half years before Maddie moved to Seattle in 2025.
“I was committed to my career… and so we did long distance.”
The harder part wasn’t mileage-it was identity. Maddie describes an “unbelievable identity crisis” after college, wrestling with whether to chase professional soccer or honor her job commitment.
“Your whole life has been linked to putting energy and time into your sport… and then suddenly you have autonomy and choice.”
Watching Chris pursue the NFL while she stepped away from elite competition intensified the internal conflict.
I’m grappling with like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t choose this route, but I’m so proud of you for choosing it.
Ultimately, she kept her word to her employer and built a career off the field. What never wavered was their support for each other.
“He’s a huge grounding point for me. He’s the calmest person.”
Now, as Chris prepares for his first Super Bowl appearance against the New England Patriots, Maddie feels the nerves more than he does.
“He’s like, ‘I’m going to do the same thing that I’ve done for my whole life.’ I think I’m more nervous.”
For Maddie, the moment is deeply personal. She understands what it means to train for years to reach the pinnacle of a sport-even if her own path took a different turn.
“Running onto the field to meet him after the NFC Championship, I’ve never been happier for another singular human being in my life.”
Her hope now is simple: that he gets to feel that joy again on the biggest stage.
“This will be the equivalent for him… and I think that’s so awesome.”