Who is Lainey Wilson engaged to? Here's what to know about ...

Show Caption

Hide Caption

ACM Awards: Lainey Wilson talk about her upcoming album 'Whirlwind'

Lainey Wilson speaks about the 59th ACM Awards and her upcoming album 'Whirlwind.'

• Country singer Lainey Wilson is engaged to her boyfriend, former NFL player Devlin "Duck" Hodges.
• The couple met in 2021 through mutual friends in Nashville and made their first public appearance together at the 2023 ACM Awards.
• Hodges played football for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams before retiring in 2022 and pursuing a career in real estate.

On Wednesday, country singer Lainey Wilson announced that she's found her "4x4xU forever" in her new fiancé, Devlin "Duck" Hodges.

The Grammy Award-winning country singer went public with the former NFL player and current real estate agent in 2023 at the ACM Awards.

And although the "Yellowstone" actress and "Heart Like A Truck" singer has kept her relationship with Hodges pretty private, she has been open about his continuous support throughout her skyrocketing career.

"He is good as gold," Wilson told Bobby Bones in 2023. "Supports me, would never come in between anything that I'm trying to do.”

Wilson released her album "Whirlwind" last year, which earned her a Grammy nomination at this year's 67th annual awards.

Last year, she took home the Grammy for Best Country Album for her record "Bell Bottom Country."

In 2023, Wilson also won the CMA entertainer of the year award.

Here's what to know about Wilson's new fiancé.

Who is Devlin 'Duck' Hodges?

Hodges, an Alabama native, got his start playing football at Samford University, where his college coach gave him the nickname "Duck" after a former gifted quarterback on the team.

Appropriately, Hodges is also an avid duck hunter and won a world championship duck calling contest in 2009.

He went on to play with the Pittsburg Steelers in 2019 for two years and joined the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.

Hodges signed a three-year contract with the Canadian Football League team the Ottawa Redblacks, but in April 2022, he announced his retirement from the sport.

Hodges worked in real estate for Mossy Oak Properties in Arkansas and in 2024, came on board as an agent at Myers Cobb Realtors, a company based in Memphis.

Hodges' realtor profile says he's an ambassador for the outdoor gear company, Chene Gear, and enjoys hunting and golf when he isn't working.

"He also enjoys traveling to concerts and being on the road with his girlfriend and your favorite country music artist, Lainey Wilson," it says.

How did Devlin Hodges and Lainey Wilson meet?

Hodges and Wilson met through mutual friends in Nashville in 2021 and began dating, but kept it under wraps until their red carpet debut in 2023.

For their first date, “we went to this old place called Silverados," Wilson told People Magazine.

"It had free beer and wine from 5 to 10 p.m. ... I was like, ‘This boy likes to ball on a budget too. This is gonna work out.’"

Wilson said that Hodges is one of her biggest cheerleaders and champions, and that she is grateful for him.

“Duck is the kind of dude who high-fives me on the way in the door and on the way out and says, ‘Go get it,’" Wilson continued. "He knows how important this dream is to me."

Wilson also noted that Hodges was quick to win over her music friends, and that he enjoys going out and golfing or grabbing beers with her pals HARDY, Morgan Wallen, Cole Swindell and Luke Combs.

Audrey Gibbs is a music journalist with The Tennessean. You can reach her at agibbs@tennessean.com.