Normani and DeKaylin Metcalf have kept their relationship mostly low-key, but that changed on Thursday when Mr. Metcalf, an N.F.L. wide receiver, announced their engagement — at a news conference announcing his recent trade, of all places.

Mr. Metcalf, who had been traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Pittsburgh Steelers, was speaking about his excitement to play for his new team when a reporter asked whether he had sought any advice from Russell Wilson, the quarterback who joined the Steelers last season on a one-year deal. Mr. Wilson had also played for the Seahawks, where the two were teammates.

During Mr. Metcalf’s response, he nonchalantly referred to Normani, the 28-year-old singer, as his fiancée: “I talked to Russ yesterday. I proposed to my fiancée. He’s the one that connected us, so he was giving us congratulations on that.”

Though some celebrities are strategic about how and when they share their engagement news, Mr. Metcalf, 27, seemed unconcerned about press politics. Instead, he ecstatically pointed at Normani, who was watching him from the side. “She’s right there,” he said with a smirk. “Hold that rock up, baby.”

It was a soft launch engagement of sorts. Despite making their romance Instagram official on a story post in July 2023, the couple had largely avoided the public eye. To many fans, the fact that they were even a couple was news. But it was happy news for R&B fans who have been rooting for Normani; she has been in the spotlight since she was 16, auditioning on “The X Factor” and then joining the girl group Fifth Harmony, and has opened up about heartbreak in her music.

At the news conference, Mr. Metcalf shared further details of the proposal, which he said took place the day before: “My family and her family was in Houston. It was my sister’s spring break, and just thought about getting the whole family together just for a big kumbaya and joining our families with a ring.”