CLEVELAND — Before Browns guard Wyatt Teller was traded to Cleveland, he had met the love of his life—he just didn’t know it at the time.
Carly Teller is from Blacksburg, Virginia, which is home to Virginia Tech, where Wyatt played college football. Wyatt, in town to meet up with some friends before the Hokies' 2018 spring game, ran into one of Carly’s friends, who introduced the two.
“We hit it off, just talking and having a good time,” Wyatt said.
While the sparks were flying, the two parted ways, not reconnecting until a year later.
Home is where the heart is
When Wyatt and Carly began their relationship, Wyatt was playing for the Buffalo Bills. But shortly after the new romance began, life threw Wyatt a curveball.
On August 29, 2019, the Browns sent a fifth and sixth round pick to the Bills in exchange for Teller. With the regular season ramping up, Teller had to quickly pack up his things and head a few hours west, shifting from Bills Mafia to the Dawg Pound overnight. That’s when Wyatt and Carly’s love truly began to blossom.
“I helped him pick up his whole life in 24 hours and move. And he was like, ‘That's my girl,’” Carly recalled with a smile.
The couple began building a life together right here in Cleveland, falling in love with each other and the city at the same time.
“We love being outside,” Carly said. “We love to take our dog [Butler Blue] and go fishing on Rocky River. We love the little local places to go. The food's amazing. We haven't been to a Tribe game yet, we really want to do that.”
“That's what's so nice, is there's so much to do outdoors, but also great food. The food here is amazing,” Wyatt said.
Taking in the city while building a life together made Cleveland the center of the Tellers' love story—and Wyatt knew he had to somehow incorporate it when he decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Carly.
An engagement at FES
When Wyatt decided he was going to propose to Carly, he knew he wanted to do something big, something special. The problem was that it was smack dab in the middle of a pandemic.
With their relationship having blossomed in Cleveland while he was making a name for himself on the Browns, Wyatt wanted to tie that into the big day.
“I got permission from all the way to the top, all the way to the owners,” Wyatt said.
After finding the perfect ring and setting everything up for the proposal at the stadium, Wyatt had one last thing he needed to do before asking Carly the big question.
“I wanted to ask [her] dad in person, and I couldn't do that. So I did the second best thing and FaceTimed him,” Wyatt said. “He said yes. And I knew they’re best friends, her and her father, so I knew that I couldn't wait too long. So I waited about a week and then got to the stadium.”
On Dec. 21, Wyatt and Carly were going to a small Christmas celebration, but on the way, Wyatt said he needed to make a pit stop.
“He told me that he had to go get his AirPods and his cross necklace that he got in Israel that he loves. So he told me he had left it [at the stadium], and that wasn't that crazy because that was kind of like a Wyatt thing to do,” Carly laughed. “So we get there and he said, 'Well, they told me you could come in with me,' which now is crazy because it was COVID and that would not have happened. But I go in with him, he was like 'Do you want to see the locker room?' He was so smooth.”
As Wyatt took Carly on what she believed was just a quick impromptu tour of Wyatt's workplace, the real magic began.
Wyatt hit a button on the wall and a garage door opened up, leading the couple out onto the field at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“[I said] ‘if you want to go to the 50 yard line, this is our one chance to get to the 50 yard line with COVID and everything, so let's go,” Wyatt said.
The two walked across the field and as they approached midfield, a video began to play on the jumbotron, displaying a video montage of the couple before Wyatt got down on one knee and asked Carly to marry him.
“It was literally perfect, and Cleveland means so much to us. It's kind of where we really started dating. And so the fact that he did it there, it couldn't have been better,” Carly said.
Pandemic wedding planning
Anyone who planned a wedding during the COVID-19 pandemic quickly learned the challenges and restrictions that came with it. For the Tellers, it was no different.
With 2020 weddings that were canceled due to the pandemic rescheduled into 2021, Wyatt and Carly knew they were either going to have to wait until 2022 for a wedding venue to open up or they would have to plan something smaller, and sooner. They chose the latter.
Joined by their immediate families and the bridal parties, Wyatt and Carly tied the knot on April 3, 2021 in a small ceremony in Key Largo.
“It was literally a dream and everything we wanted it to be. We got married April 3,” Carly said. “Four, three, two, one.”
“Blastoff,” Wyatt joked.
The two spent their honeymoon in St. Lucia in the Caribbean, exploring the island, navigating a volcanic eruption that occurred on the nearby St. Vincent island while they were there and for Wyatt—continuing his Browns offseason training.
Throughout the couple’s relationship, Cleveland, and the Browns, have been the center of it all, and when the fans found out about the nuptials, they showed up in a loyal way.
Showered by the Dawg Pound
Before departing for their wedding, Carly took the reins on the wedding registry duties.
As the two would curiously peek at the registry to see things that were being bought, names unfamiliar to them began popping up as having bought gifts off the registry.
Carly took to Twitter and found out a Browns fan had posted their registry online and Browns fans from all over began showering the couple with gifts from their registry.
“It was so thoughtful. And just made it even more obvious how amazing Cleveland Browns fans are,” Carly said. “So we've tried our best to get back to all of them.”
“Send a letter, send a thank you,” from Wyatt added. “It truly is humbling to be able to have fans that they love you not only as a football player, what I do on the field, but also to give us gifts or just a 'Hey, we're thinking about you' or something, it's awesome.”
Love and football
Playing any position in the NFL is an aggressive job. Being an offensive lineman in the NFL is ultra-aggressive.
While Teller is a monster on the field—pancaking opponents game in and game out, taking hit after hit while blocking for quarterback Baker Mayfield and creating lanes for running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt—he somehow finds a way to flip the aggressive switch off back at home.
It doesn’t just flip instantly, though.
“It's funny how it takes hours after games to kind of get off of that level of aggression and stuff like that. So after games Carly will be like 'You're the best ever. I love you so much. Oh, my gosh' and want to hug me and hold on me. I'm like, all right, give me a second,” Wyatt said. “They say that each play, it's like a car accident. So imagine being in 70 car accidents and then being told, 'Oh, you're amazing.' Give me a second to get back into my normalness and I can flip that switch right back off.”
Once the flip is off, Wyatt is unrecognizable from his on-field self.
“He’s so lovey,” Carly said. “He’s just a big teddy bear.”
Just about two months into their marriage, Wyatt and Carly Teller are enamored with each other.
For Wyatt, he fell in love with Carly’s heart, her caring nature and how close she is with her family. For Carly, she fell in love with Wyatt’s faith, his mental and physical strength and how it drives him and his sweet nature (off-the field, of course.)
The love the Tellers have for each other extends to the city they fell in love with and the fans that have supported them along the way.
As they prepare for the 2021 season, with Wyatt on the field looking to continue his dominance on the Browns offensive line and Carly in the stands, decked out in her Browns gear cheering her husband on, the Tellers remain hopeful things work out after this season and they can continue to call Cleveland home for years to come.
“I want to be here. There's no doubt about it. I've talked a thousand times to my agent,” Wyatt said. “Of course I want to be here, but you just never know with the business aspect of it. And it's not a bad problem to have. We have a lot of good players that cost money. That's kind of a good thing. But we're all here this year and we can all work this year and see what we can do this year.”
Before heading home to unwind after a long day of workouts and football prep, the Tellers had one last parting message.
“I love you,” Carly said to Wyatt.
“I love you, too,” Wyatt replied.
“And we love the Browns,” the two said together.
Camryn Justice is a digital content producer at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
