Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix and His Wife Izzy Smoke: Fast Facts You Need to Know
It’s been a quick ascent for Denver Broncos second year quarterback Bo Nix, who went from being the last of 6 quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft to runner-up for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Nix and the Broncos have high expectations in 2025 thanks to an elite defense featuring cornerback and NFL Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II and because of how well Nix played as a rookie.
Nix, 25 years old, comes from a longtime Southern football family. His grandfather, Conrad Nix, was a high school football coach for 43 years in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia while Nix’s father, Patrick Nix, was a 3-year starter at quarterback at Auburn, including an undefeated season in 1993.
Patrick Nix was also Bo Nix’s head coach at Pinson Valley (Alabama) High School, where Nix played with younger brother and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Tez Johnson.
Nix followed his father’s footsteps at Auburn, where he started for 3 seasons and was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019. It was also where he met his future wife, Auburn cheerleader Izzy Smoke, before he transferred to Oregon for his final 2 seasons in 2022 and 2023.
With the Ducks, Nix rewrote the NCAA record books in 2 seasons, going 22-5 as the starter before he and Smoke headed to Denver on a 4-year, $18.6 million rookie contract.
“The day I met Bo, he told me about this God-sized dream of his. I will never stop praising the Lord for His faithfulness or have enough words to express how proud I am of you, Bo,” Smoke wrote on
Here’s some more facts about Nix and Smoke, who got married on July 2, 2022, in Alpine, Alabama:
Alabama Natives Who Met at Auburn
Smoke is a Birmingham, Alabama, native — just 2.5 hours northwest of Phenix City — and she married Nix shortly after she graduated from Auburn with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science with minors in Psychology and Sport Coaching in May 2022.
The couple got engaged in September 2021.
After the wedding, Smoke and Nix packed up the U-Haul and headed west, traveling 2,600 miles across the country to Eugene, Oregon, where he joined 36-year-old first year head coach and former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning.
The move to Oregon — and the move 2 years later to Denver — left both husband and wife still trying to bring all of their stuff with them from Alabama.
“When Bo and I got married back in 2022, we moved across the country to Oregon and left all of our wedding gifts unopened in Alabama,” Smoke told Mestiza New York
Unique Way Couple Spent Draft Day
Instead of heading to Detroit and getting drafted in front of 275,000 NFL fans at Detroit’s Hart Plaza, Nix and Smoke chose to watch the draft at his family’s home in Alabama surrounded by family and friends.
When Nix answered the call from Broncos general manager George Paton to tell him he was going to be drafted, the first question he asked was “You want to go win a Super Bowl?”
Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts hints $12M elite defensive weapon for postseason roster vs. Reds
The Los Angeles Dodgers are preparing to face the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card Round of the MLB Playoffs. While the Reds will enter the series as underdogs, they can't be counted out—they're an exciting, young team with a solid pitching staff. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have some tough roster decisions to make, including what to do with new bullpen arm Roki Sasaki.
“Sasaki pitched on one day of rest on Friday, and previously got two days off in between his other relief outings. Roberts said Sasaki will not make it into the final two games of the regular season,” MLB.com’s Sonya Chen wrote.
Another player to watch is Hyeseong Kim. The rookie appeared in just 71 games this season but has proven to be a valuable asset—offering elite defense, smart baserunning, and positional versatility. Kim was signed during the offseason.
“The Dodgers have agreed to a deal with Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, the team announced on Friday. The deal is for three years and a guaranteed $12.5 million with an option for 2028-29 that could increase the value of the deal to $22 million,” MLB.com’s Brian Murphy wrote.
When speaking to the media on Monday, manager Dave Roberts did not commit to whether Kim would be on the postseason roster.
“Hyeseong has been fantastic for us this year. Going into tomorrow we have some tough roster decisions to go over,” Roberts said.
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Kim brings elite speed on the bases and could serve as a late-game defensive replacement for Teoscar Hernández if needed. Coming into the season, there was plenty of buzz surrounding the Korean infielder.
“Kim, 25, was posted by the Kiwoom Heroes on Dec. 5, marking Friday as a deadline to sign with a major league team. He's known as an elite defender at multiple positions as he played second base, shortstop, third base and in the outfield,” ESPN’s Jesse Rogers wrote.
It will be interesting to see how Roberts and his staff handle the final roster spots. Kim remains firmly in the mix—and if called upon, he could emerge as a postseason hero.
