When Isaac Rochell became a free agent in November 2023, he saw an opportunity to explore his options.

While his career with the NFL is still up in the air, the former Las Vegas Raiders defensive end has discovered two more passions: fatherhood and content creation.

"I'm enjoying being home with my daughter. And if I got a call tomorrow, would I go? Absolutely. But in the meantime, it's really nice being home," Rochell, 29, who shares daughter Scottie Bee, 11 months, with wife Allison Kuch, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

He continues, "I think for Ali and I, we're both just embracing the journey that we're on. That's literally been what the NFL has been since day one. This is a chapter of it that isn't fun at all, but it is part of the NFL."

Related: Allison Kuch Opens Up About Her 'Identity Crisis' After Husband Isaac Rochell Became an NFL Free Agent: 'Never Really Had a Sense of Home'

Though his football career has been "all over the place," Rochell — who was first drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 and also played for the Indianapolis Colts and the Cleveland Browns — found that this season of change would be the perfect opportunity to build a career as a content creator.

"I've had years where I started and had a great season, and then I've had years where I'm like, 'This is trash. I don't want to go into the facility today.' And just seeing people follow the journey no matter what, understanding that people are less concerned with me being a football player and more concerned with who I am and how I present myself on social media," he says.

Kuch was the "catalyst" for it all, he says, but Rochell did learn a thing or two about "branding yourself" since his days as a college football star at the University of Notre Dame.

"They always told us when we'd have meetings, they'd be like, 'Make sure you brand yourself. Nothing's more important than your brand.' And there's not really many avenues to brand yourself in today's world outside of social media if you want to immediately reach people," he recalls.

Adding, "So for me, when Ali was blowing up... I was like, 'I should definitely take advantage of this and give some behind the scenes with football in the NFL.' "

There weren't many NFL players sharing their lives on social media at the time, so he "took advantage" of it and the journey "paved its own way."

Now, Rochell has new plans in the works: he wants to start a podcast where he can have "very real conversations with people."

"A huge part of what I do on social media now, especially on my Instagram, is just kind of being the catalyst for some of these more intense conversations about politics, pop culture, whatever it may be, so I want to sit down and talk to people in these different spaces," he explains.

Related: Allison Kuch and Isaac Rochell Reveal Reality of 'New Phase of Life' as NFL Player Considers Retirement (Exclusive)

Meanwhile, Kuch recently opened up to PEOPLE about navigating the outside opinions on social media.

"If you look at Isaac's career, he's had a very successful run in the NFL," she told PEOPLE in November. "There are obviously ups and downs in a professional athlete's career, but after seven years, we can both look back and think, 'Wow, that's been great.'"

"We know that seven years in the NFL is very rare, and we are aware that retirement is on the horizon," she continued. "However, when I share that free agency is hard, I often face opinions like, 'Oh, he’s done. Just get over it.' People don't understand... our entire relationship has revolved around football."

"I also think we’re getting a glimpse of what life after football could look like, and that’s a positive thing, too," she noted.

Read the original article on People