Maryland Love Connection: Dexter and Brooke McDougle

Dexter and Brooke McDougle say that they did it their way.  

The couple had kids, bought a house together and then got married. However, before doing it their way, Dexter McDougle, a former defensive back for Maryland football, and Brooke (Grohol) McDougle, a former gymnast and cheerleader at the University of Maryland, found love as student-athletes in College Park. 

The McDougles, each 33, are parents to 6-year-old Farrah and 3-year-old Maddox. They’ve been happily married for a year and a half and live on the Jersey Shore. They even have a Havanese puppy named Winnie, a name inspired by the character Winnie-the-Pooh.

Dexter's pursuit was not limited to the football field. In 2009, during his freshman redshirt, he set his sights on Brooke, the blonde girl who had caught his eye in a first-year introductory class — UNIV-100. Dexter saw Brooke in class and made a bold claim to his teammate, who also attended the class with him. 

“I saw her, and she was talking with people or whatever,” he said. “I looked at my teammate, Travis Hawkins, and said, ‘You see her? I want her. I'm going to make her mine.’”

Dexter called his shot, and the chase proved to be worth it. However, Brooke says she turned him down multiple times before he was successful. Dexter went a step further. He says Brooke wanted nothing to do with him because he was a mindless athlete showing up late to class at the time. 

“Typical football player, I guess,” Dexter joked.

Dexter repeatedly asked Brooke out to the College Park Diner but was always met with a different excuse. 

“No, I'm just going to be in and out and go take a nap before practice,” Dexter said while impersonating Brooke. “Nah, I'm really pressed for time right now.” 

Dexter didn’t give up. He had an electric scooter that he used to get around campus. One day, he was leaving the then-Comcast Center with Hawkins on the back of his scooter, heading to a math class they attended together. Dexter spotted Brooke and her friends on the ride, so he dropped Hawkins off, swung back around and approached her. 

He discovered that Brooke was walking to South Campus Commons, roughly a 20-minute walk. Dexter offered to give her a ride on the back of his scooter, and she finally said yes. Although it was a simple gesture, Dexter knew he had her. 

Dexter had other classes with some of Brooke’s teammates on the gymnastics team, one of which was Ally Krikorian. Krikorian approached Dexter in class after his encounter with Brooke and invited him to a meteor shower watch party on the quad — an area surrounded by student-athlete dorms.

Dexter brought two of his teammates and close friends, but he was the only one who stayed the entire night. The meteors never came, but as the group laid there staring at the sky, Dexter and Brooke had a moment they would never forget. 

The group suddenly started play wrestling, and Brooke ended up on top of Dexter. The pair locked eyes during the starry night. 

“It was a moment,” Dexter said. “From that point on, we were inseparable.”

The pair began regularly eating at local restaurants and spending nights together on Route 1. Many other student-athletes and friends from their respective teams often accompanied them. 

“We just wanted to be around each other,” Brooke said. “All of our teammates got along, and it was like a family. We would have movie nights with the cheerleaders, the gymnasts and football players.”

The couple’s daytime spot was the Silver Diner in Greenbelt. They also frequented P.F. Chang’s in Columbia.

“I thought I was doing something bringing her to P.F. Chang’s,” Dexter said. “That was our spot. It’s still our spot. We did New Year's there a couple of times. We were just young and in love.”

They were spending almost every minute of every day together. 

Brooke switched from gymnastics to acrobatics and tumbling as a sophomore and junior. She got to meet the cheerleading team, and her friend group grew. Most importantly, she now had a front-row view of her boyfriend on the football field for every game. 

“I was front row every game to the point where he could jump into the stands and give me a kiss before every game,” Brooke said. “My family would even come to support him. I'm one of four girls, so my sisters would come and support him at Maryland. And then we would all travel to the away games, which was super fun.”

Dexter became a star player for the Terps, and Brooke cheered him on as he made critical defensive plays. In 2013, Dexter’s senior season, he played his final game for Maryland at UConn. He injured his shoulder and missed the rest of the season, but he went out with one of his best performances as a Terp.

He recorded two interceptions, one of which he returned for a 49-yard touchdown. After the play, Dexter found Brooke in the stands and blew her a kiss. He says it was amazing having someone cheer him on and watch him grow as an athlete and person.   

 “It was just a full experience, something I want my kids to experience as well,” Dexter said. “Finding my person in college, and then she's there supporting me. There’s no better feeling.”

The couple briefly split up at the end of their senior years, as both were young adults finding their way. After his season ended, Dexter went through rehab and shifted his attention to preparing for the NFL Combine and NFL Draft. Brooke had plans to return to her home in N.J. after graduation. 

Dexter was drafted by the New York Jets in 2014. He called Brooke and informed her he was also heading to New Jersey, although they weren’t together then.  

“At that moment, I was like, ‘Oh man, I can't get rid of this guy,’” Brooke said. “Of all places in the entire United States of America, he literally got drafted 20 minutes from where I live. It was kind of like fate a little bit because then we could still see each other and hang out, and I could still go to all of his NFL games.”

Two years passed, and Brooke went to Maine for nursing school. One night, Dexter was hosting a party in D.C. and impulsively booked a 7 a.m. flight at 3 a.m. to surprise visit Brooke. He did, and the pair began taking their relationship to new heights. The pair spent almost the entire summer together before the start of Jets training camp in 2017. 

Given Dexter’s grueling schedule, he was typically the one to reach out to Brooke. But Brooke called Dexter the day he arrived at his hotel for the start of camp. He discovered that she was pregnant.  

“I was just excited. But at the same time, I was just getting ready for training camp,” Dexter said. “I was already super stressed. I was like, alright, I got to have the best training camp of my life. I had a kid on the way.” 

Dexter says he had the best training camp of his career. However, the Jets traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles on Brooke’s birthday. He became a Super Bowl champion in his first year with a new team, and in March, his daughter Farrah was born. 

The couple’s son, Maddox, was born three years later, also in March. They often joke that they find each other especially attractive in June. Dexter went on to play two more years of professional football with various professional teams. 

Dexter proposed to Brooke in Chatham, N.J., at a family party on Christmas Eve. They officially tied the knot in January 2023 in Red Bank, N.J., accompanied by a small crowd mainly of family. 

Brooke works as an aesthetic nurse at Jeunesse Medical Spa, and Dexter is a case specialist at Medtronic Spine & Biologics. He also owns Dexter’s Training Lab and is involved in real estate development. 

“We are so grateful we did it our way and on our terms,” Brooke said. “We are thankful every day for the life we have created together and look forward to what the future holds for us.”