News surrounding rookie Joe Royer circulated on social media on Monday. A photo of the Cleveland Browns tight end attending his girlfriend’s high school graduation quickly circulated on the internet as NFL fans noticed the age difference between the couple.
Royer turned 24-years-old in February and his girlfriend is 18-years-old and just graduated high school. On Monday evening, another video of the couple circulated on X as they attempted to participate in a social media trend. The video continued the conversation of whether the tight end was dating a minor.
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Royer played for Ohio State for three seasons until he transferred to the University of Cincinnati. His girlfriend, Rilee, is the daughter of the Cincinnati Bearcats tight end coach, Josh Stepp.
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Joe Royer’s girlfriend sported his jersey for Bearcats game last season
While the initial photo of Joe Royer at the high school graduation of his reported girlfriend doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. Additional photos have continued to surface throughout the last 24 hours.
A photo of his girlfriend wearing his Bearcats jersey at a game last season has also circulated on social media. In the photo, she stood on the sidelines while facing the field to show off the back of the No.11 jersey.
She has also reportedly commented and left red heart emojis on some of his social media posts and included a photo of him when he got the call from the Browns on draft day.
The Cleveland Browns selected Royer in the fifth-round of the 2026 NFL draft after two seasons with the Bearcats. In his final season he had 29 receptions for 416 yards and four touchdowns.
Edited by Bethany Cohen