Ex-NFL Star Shares Secret to Growing in Marriage to Olympian

Published: August 19, 2025

By Gavin Boyle

Andrew East encouraged his fans to take heart when they encounter difficulties in their important relationships in life as coming out the other side makes them stronger and more resilient.

“You’re just inevitably going to have those [hard times] in your life personally and in your marriage and I would say, maybe it’s promised in marriage. But he beauty is that you can actually come out stronger on the other side,” East said. “And that’s my hunch… is you kind of start stacking experiences and those experiences give you a different perspective when a new experience comes about and you’re like, oh, we’ve been through something like this and can learn or predict the ending a little better.”

“Like, we’re going to have some struggles but if we push through it’s probably going to be beautiful… So, it’s never fun to go through a hard season, especially in a relationship, especially in a relationship as close as marriage because we all know that hard times are consuming and it sometimes feels like things won’t get better,” he continued. “But have hope and take heart because they will. So that’s my encouragement to keep fighting and keep fighting for what matters most.”

East and his wife Shawn Johnson East have encouraged their fans to work through marital problems in the past, reminding them that difficulties are bound to arise. However, rather than allowing discontent and resentment to take hold, they encourage couples the be honest about their thoughts and feelings and to work through problems together.

“Remeber that two people might have two completely different perspectives on a reality,” East said.

Meanwhile, the couple remain very strong advocates for marriage, arguing that working through problems with another person and being forced to compromise and give up living entirely for yourself has a very positive effect on those who engage with it.

“I just think…if you’re able to do family well, then I think society benefits,” East explained. “If you can have hard conversations and challenging conversations in the family and maintain an aspect of empathy and love, then it has ripple effects throughout society.”

“The reality here [is] marriage requires continuous effort, communication and compromise from both sides,” Shawn added. “I think you can live happily ever after under the realistic expectation that you have to work for that every single day of your life, and I don’t mean that in a bad way.”

Thus, even though difficulties in marriage can lead to extremely trying times, it is absolutely worth it to fight for the relationship and work through problems, rather than brushing things under the rug and throwing in the towel and allowing the relationship to become weaker.

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