Their relationship began in 2000, the same year the Seahawks selected Alexander with the No. 19 overall pick in the NFL Draft, and the couple married two years later. More than two decades on, the former Seattle Seahawks running back is still making headlines away from football, largely because of his massive family. Alexander and Valerie now have 14 children, and he has made it clear they may not be done yet.
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“Yeah, I mean, I’m a goal setter, and I also like to think big, dream big,” Alexander said on the Up & Adams podcast when host Kay Adams asked him if he would have imagined having this many kids. “If you’re like, ‘Hey, everybody’s having 14 kids,’ then I’d be like, ‘What’s 20 look like?’ I ain’t saying that we’re not done, but I’m also not saying that I’m done.”
Alexander and Valerie were expecting their 14th child in February 2026 after previously having 10 daughters and three sons, with Kay Adams congratulating him on the pregnancy announcement in September 2025. Their ninth child, a daughter named Torah, tragically died at just 70 days old in 2017. The loss deeply affected the couple, but their commitment to children extended beyond their own family. They later founded The Harvest Covenant, a faith-driven educational organization aimed at helping children grow, learn, and thrive.
“Love being with my bride as we encourage players to impact the community all over the country,” Alexander said last April during an event with Stand Together. That partnership off the field goes back more than two decades.
Alexander said he knew Valerie was the one just three days after they started dating. “I was thinking, ‘Now I know why I was sent to Seattle. I had met my wife,’” he recalled. And while Alexander built an elite NFL résumé, winning league MVP in 2005, earning three Pro Bowl selections, and making first-team All-Pro, he has long placed fatherhood on the same level.
Alexander has consistently tied family to the kind of legacy he wants to leave. He once said strong families can produce healthier communities, later calling family “the most underrated unit in the world.” He has carried that belief into fatherhood, including taking his son Jedidah and his brothers to the 2025 NFL Draft for Jedidah’s birthday.
That focus only became stronger once football was behind him. After retiring in 2008, Alexander said he still had some of his “best years” ahead of him and wanted to spend them with his family.
Now, football is starting to become part of that family story as well. During a February 2026 appearance on the NFL Players: Second Acts podcast, Alexander spoke confidently about his two oldest sons, Joseph and Justus, who are already playing the game. Joseph had just completed his sophomore season, while Justus was preparing to play freshman football the following year. “They talented,” Alexander said while discussing how proud he was watching them play.
Joseph plays wide receiver, although Alexander believes his future could be at cornerback, praising his feet, hands, intelligence, and coverage ability. Justus, meanwhile, has been playing running back, the same position that made his father an NFL MVP.
His football legacy has hardly faded either. Since 2018, the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award has honored college football’s top freshman, a nod to his own standout career at Alabama.
Now, with 14 children and no firm line drawn under that number, Alexander has left the door open to growing the family again.