Katherine Webb said it’s time for her to “get back out there” after nearly a dozen years out of the spotlight.
The model, who’s married to former NFL quarterback AJ McCarron, has no regrets about taking a hiatus years after the 2013 BCS Championship Game, a 42-14 demolition of Notre Dame by McCarron’s Alabama and the night her life changed completely.
The former Miss Alabama 2012 nearly broke the internet when ESPN cameras captured her sitting in the stands with McCarron’s mother, Dee Dee Bonner — as Brent Musburger, a former ESPN sportscaster, gushed over her stunning looks.on the broadcast.
That moment turned her into a household name and she launched a successful modeling career.
Webb, now 35, stepped away to start a family with McCarron — but also because of false narratives that inaccurately painted her as a gold digger and a narcissist, she said in a wide-ranging interview with The Post.
“That’s part of the reason why I stepped back a little bit as well, is that social media and the news at that point in time was quite a bit. I think I was one of the the top five most Googled people that year,” said Webb, who recently signed joined Collab, a marketing agency, for representation.
“My personality and how I live… I’m very positive. I’m not dramatic. I try to stay away from negative things. So unfortunately… a lot of negative things were written. And I was like, I don’t like that people think these things about me just because I’m not that way in real life. So I shied away from a lot of different things after that point just because I didn’t like how I was being portrayed then. I just I stayed out of the spotlight in a way.”
The beginning
Musburger’s introduction of Webb was overtly filled with compliments on the ESPN broadcast back in 2013.
“When you’re a quarterback at Alabama — you see that lovely lady there? She does go to Auburn but she also is Miss Alabama and that’s A.J. McCarron’s girlfriend, OK,” Musburger said. “… Wow I’ll tell ya, you quarterbacks, you get all the good-looking women. What a beautiful woman. Wow! Woah! So if you’re a youngster at Alabama, start throwing the football around the backyard.”
There was no ill-will on Webb’s end — and the pair has exchanged pleasantries through the years.
Webb’s social media following skyrocketed and her modeling career took off. She landed a photo shoot in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit four months after her viral fame — posing in McCarron’s number 10 Alabama jersey and bikini bottoms.
The brunette beauty became the “It” girl in the world of WAGs, a phrase for the wives and girlfriends of professional athletes.
That viral moment changed the course of Webb’s future, but it wasn’t as glamorous as it seemed.
Private life and selling real estate
McCarron became the first quarterback to win consecutive BCS National Championship Games in 2012 and 2013, when he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up.
He was selected by the Bengals with the 164th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL draft in May.
Webb and McCarron tied the knot two months later on July 12, 2014.
They went on to welcome three sons, Gunnar Cruz, 8, Cash Carter, 5, and Raymond Anthony McCarron III, aka Tripp, 3.
McCarron had stints with the Bills, Raiders, Texans and the Falcons, mostly as a reliable backup. He took his talents to the XFL in 2023.
Webb got her real estate license as she aimed for a more low-profile profession.
“We opened a real estate company and are selling residential properties,” Webb said, adding that McCarron, who doesn’t have a real estate license, paid to open the business.
“We have about 8 to 10 agents right now, which is really exciting… It made sense to open up a real estate company, just because I knew that it was something that I was interested in and wanted to do separate from my social media presence.”
Webb, who has 276,000 Instagram followers, explained that she wanted a career that was more stable than modeling at the time — when that industry was much different than now.
“I had been modeling for about ten years and you know, my body has definitely changed from having three kids over that span,” she said. “I knew I needed to have something more secure. As a backup plan, I chose to get my real estate license.”
Webb’s comeback plans
Webb is open to all new possibilities and opportunities in 2025 — including runway modeling and a potential return to Sports Illustrated.
“If an agency were to call me and be like, ‘hey, we’ve booked you for this awesome fashion show in New York,’ I would not hesitate to join,” Webb said. “I live for the runway. I love it so much. And I as far as the photography goes, I might not be a size two — that’s a little bit more of a standard that I have not been able to live up to — I’m a good four, five or six. I don’t live in New York to be able to go to the castings a lot.
“But I have more freedom now that my youngest is three. And so I, I feel as though it’s time for me to come out of my home and kind of get back out there. I do have a decent social media presence. It’d be kind of idiotic for me not to take advantage of that… I’m not one to strive for fame. I don’t, you know, I don’t put myself out there a lot to be famous. But if that’s something that God wants for me, then I’m fine to take advantage of it.”
Webb said she “might consider” potential opportunities at New York Fashion Week in February.
She also plans to share more beauty and fashion content on social media while running her real estate company.
“I’m just I’m going along with the ride and seeing what can happen, and just having fun,” she said.
Webb added that she recently picked up golf and enjoys playing with McCarron.
“I think you can stay at home and be an angry wife over them being gone golfing all the time,” Webb said. “I feel like if I can’t beat him, I’ll join him. So we’ll take our future trips different places and make sure they have a good golf course to give us something to do.”
McCarron’s next chapter
McCarron, 34, who is currently a free agent, was released by the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks after two seasons last November.
“AJ’s getting towards retirement… whatever that looks like,” Webb said. “He’s about to sign a podcast deal.”
She didn’t share further details.
McCarron, 34, has yet to officially retire from football.
“The main reason why he chose to do the XFL, the USFL, was because he knew that he would be able to play,” Webb said. “He knew he was getting to the point age wise to where he was going to be phased out [of the NFL]. And so he got a call and was offered to lead a team in the USFL team and he jumped on it. … That was really exciting for him to do, and the boys loved watching him play.
“I think in this next phase of life, he’s really excited to help coach his kids and their sports… I’ve always called him a mini Nick Saban with the way he coaches and the way he is. He’s always pushing people around him to be better and be the best that they can be.”
The former NFL backup had success in the USFL and the XFL — which merged into the UFL last year.
He led the league in passing touchdowns and passer rating in 2023.
McCarron had a short stint with the Cincinnati Bengals after franchise quarterback Joe Burrow’s season-ending injury in 2023.
Last month, he said during an appearance on the “McCready and Siskey Podcast” he was not done playing in the UFL — and that he found out he was released on Instagram.
McCarron added that he wanted to “come back with a vengeance” in 2025.
