Allison Kuch and Isaac Rochell serve up their favorite holiday side dish recipe, leaving the cleanup to Finish Ultimate. Brin Hanson
Influencer Allison Kuch and her husband, NFL free agent Isaac Rochell, have a lot to look forward to this holiday season with their daughter, Scottie.
“I feel like the holidays will be even more special, and I love the holidays to begin with,” Kuch, 29, gushed while speaking with Us Weekly exclusively at the Finish Holiday Dinner in New York City, where the couple debuted their Mac & Cheese x Corn Bread mashup recipe. “I think that what we want to share with her, even growing up she might not comprehend it now … but I think showing her throughout her childhood, like, anybody is welcome at our house during the holidays, friends or family, [it’s an] open door policy. So, I’m excited about that.”
Rochell, 29, added that nothing “brings people together” quite like a baby, telling Us, “I think for her, seeing family present is huge.”
The pair, who have been married since 2021, welcomed Scottie in December 2023. One month before becoming parents, the couple faced an unexpected roadblock when Rochell was released from the Las Vegas Raiders. His free agency, however, has come with a silver lining.
“It’s like, what’s the worst case scenario of me not being signed? Being home with my daughter,” he explained, telling Us he’s “super thankful” for the extra time he’s been able to spend with Scottie. “For instance, training camp, I would’ve been gone for six weeks straight. I would not have spent really any time [with her], because I would’ve gotten signed somewhere random, so it really would’ve been just a lot of time away from her.”
Allison Kuch and Isaac Rochell serve up their favorite holiday side dish recipe, leaving the cleanup to Finish Ultimate. Brin Hanson
He continued, “Especially as she gets older, like, she keeps getting bigger and bigger, and I’m just like, ‘Man, I’m so thankful we got to spend so much time with her.’”
Kuch agreed, teasing that she “never thought” gratitude would be one of the emotions she felt after her husband lost his job. “I truly, really cherished all the time that we got,” she told Us. “She’s learning something new every day.”
Rochell was drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 and remained on the team for three years before moving to the Indianapolis Colts. He briefly played with the Cleveland Browns in 2022, signing with the Raiders shortly after his contract with the Browns was terminated.
For years, Rochell and Kuch planned their lives around football season, but the athlete’s free agency shifted the schedule they were so used to following. While Kuch admitted she sometimes missed the “cadence” of NFL season, she’s welcoming the change ahead of the holidays.
Isaac Rochell Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images
“Over the past seven years, we’ve spent all of our holidays with Isaac’s teammates who have then turned into friends and family,” she said. “But now we have a different holiday anyways with our daughter, and I know all of our family is gonna want to be out for her first holidays. So it’ll be different, but I think it’ll be a good different.”
Rochell pointed out that, including his college career, it’s been “11 years since I’ve been truly present during a holiday.” He’s even played on Christmas Day, which Kuch is happy won’t be the case this year.
“That was lonely,” she said with a laugh. “So if you’re not on a team, I’m looking forward to not spending the holidays alone.”
Kuch previously opened up about the possibility of her husband retiring from the NFL, insisting during a recent episode of her “Sunday Sports Club” podcast that “there’s really no benefit” to him hanging up his cleats right now. She told Us that navigating free agency has been “a hard situation” for the couple, but they’re trying to make the most of their time together as a family.
“Maybe I get signed tomorrow, I have no clue,” Rochell explained to Us. “But assuming that I’m not signed, I’m looking forward to being present with people [during the holidays].”
Rochell might not be hitting the field himself at this point in the football season, but he and Kuch are still integrating the game into their festive traditions. “We’re still a sports household,” Kuch told Us. “We both love watching football, so it’ll definitely be on the TV.”
While gearing up for Thanksgiving, Christmas and beyond, Kuch and Rochell collaborated on a recipe that puts Finish Ultimate to the test in even the toughest cleaning conditions — from burnt-on stains to old dishwashers and hard water — without pre-rinsing. “They’re Isaac’s two favorite side dishes,” Kuch told Us of the Mac & Cheese x Corn Bread mashup. “He was like, ‘You know, it sounds perfect together.’”
Rochell added that blending together the “two holiday classics” felt “right,” jokingly referring to his wife as a “backseat cooker.”
Finish is encouraging users to vote for their favorite holiday dishes for the chance to throw their next dinner party on the brand. The Ultimate Host can win up to $10,000 to give the Ultimate Holiday Dinner. To learn more, visit FinishUltimateHost.com.
