What The Hell Was Eric Decker Thinking With This GQ Photo Spread?

In his first two seasons with the Denver Broncos, wide receiver Eric Decker was barely a blip on the radar. He combined for just over 700 yards and nine touchdowns in 30 games played. There were, quite simply, not a lot of passes to go around

Decker has flourished with Peyton Manning behind center the last two seasons, going over 1,000 yards receiving each year and combining for 24 touchdowns. He was the second most productive WR in Denver this year, on a team that is en route to the Super Bowl.

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The other thing about Decker is that he’s pretty dreamy. Ya know, easy on the eyes. So easy on the eyes in fact, that he could quit football today and find work as a movie star. Or, if he has trouble walking and talking at the same time, a male model.

As you would probably expect, his wife is also easy on the eyes. Decker is married to Jessie James, a marginally successful country singer. She’s had two songs crack the US Country Top 50 since releasing her debut album in 2009.

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That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with women bearing their bare pregnant bellies wherever they please—have at it, ladies. There’s just something really off-putting about the sexual nature of the photo shoot at such a late point in her pregnancy.

Surely there are lots of couples out there that keep the sexual magic alive right up until it’s time to go to the hospital and deliver, but it’s usually a private affair. The kind of thing those couples would like to enjoy alone, as opposed to enjoying it on the pages of a magazine.

Obviously there’s nothing graphically sexual going on in the photos—it’s GQ, not Hustler—but it’s still a bit of a head scratcher. James is walking around in lingerie and stilettos, posing in the type of sexually suggestive poses favored mostly by teenage girls looking for attention.

Although it was clearly the intent, there’s just nothing sexy about the photos. Whether they realize it or not now, they’re embarrassing. And if Decker and James don’t know that now, they’ll certainly know it when they have to explain it to that baby in about 16 years.

All photos courtesy of GQ and photography Ben Watts. Click here to see the feature on the magazine’s website and click here to see more of Watts’ work.