Jessica Forkum Met Husband Sonny Gray in High School Years Before Dating

Jessica Forkum and Sonny Gray were not high school sweethearts, but they came from the same hometown. Since marrying, the couple has guarded their privacy, though they have shared a few significant milestones.

Lovebirds Jessica Forkum and Sonny Gray both hail from Nashville, Tennessee. They attended Smyrna High School just outside the city together and were good friends; however, their romance only came later.

They didn't share much detail about their wedding, but they tied the knot in late 2016. By then, Sonny and Jessica had already become parents to their first child and expanded their family further in 2018.

Jessica Forkum, Sonny Gray and Gunnar Gray attend CC Sabathia's PitCChIn Foundation Celebrity Softball Game at Yankee Stadium on June 28, 2018, in New York City. | Source: Getty Images

Jessica Forkum and Sonny Gray Keep Their Married Life Relatively Private

Jessica and Sonny were still boyfriend and girlfriend when they welcomed their son, Gunnar Carmack Gray, in early 2015. Speaking about the little one's middle name, Sonny shared that Carmack was a family name on his end.

Then Gunnar was the first he and Jessica simply agreed on. Gunnar was said to resemble his late grandfather, Jesse Gray, greatly. "Apparently, a bunch; that's what everyone has told me," the former Oakland Athletics pitcher remarked.

Jesse died in a tragic car accident when Sonny was a freshman in high school. He had been married to his mother, Cindy Gray, since 1986. Two years later, Cindy and Jesse had their first daughter, who shares the name Jessica with Sonny's wife.

Sonny was born second, and the couple later welcomed their youngest, Katie. Much like her in-laws, Jessica keeps a low profile. Little about her career or education has been reported, but she is present on social media with a private Instagram account.

Jessica Forkum and Sonny Gray's Minor Health Hiccup

Several months before they married (Sonny's old teammates attended his wedding) in 2016, Sonny and Jessica had a minor hiccup with the stomach flu. They both needed IV bags of fluids to help treat the illness and rehydrate their bodies, but their then-one-year-old son, Gunnar, was luckily unaffected.

Sonny had been scheduled to start for the Athletics against the Chicago White Sox. The following year, he was traded to the New York Yankees, and in 2018, he and Jessica had their second son, Declan. Sonny had taken paternity leave to be with his family but returned to work soon after Declan's birth.

Sonny Gray Showing Glimpses of His and Jessica Forkum's Boys

As previously mentioned, Jessica lives privately, away from the spotlight, and her husband rarely, if ever, posts photos of her. In April 2020, however, Sonny shared a humorous post on X (formerly Twitter) related to Jessica.

It was a close-up photo of his neckbeard, which he captioned, "My. Poor. Wife." Additionally, he has shared a few glimpses of their sons. In March 2020, Sonny posted a picture of himself, Gunnar, and Declan all wearing Cincinnati Reds jerseys and playing baseball together.

"#OpeningDayWithTheGrays," he captioned the photo. Later that year, he shared a clip of Gunnar swinging at a baseball, garnering much praise for the youngster in the comment section. Those were the few times Sonny shared precious moments with his boys with fans.

Still, he continues to guard their and Jessica's privacy. He's among many celebrity athletes who've also preferred to keep their personal lives under relative protection from the media, including former Jerry Rice, Austin Theory, Jimmy Butler, and Giancarlo Stanton.

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