Katherine Bosworth filed divorce papers on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The papers cite "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split.
The couple, former high school sweethearts, have three children, ranging in age from 8 to 14.
Bosworth – nicknamed the Boz – was banned from playing in the 1987 Orange Bowl for taking steroids. He is still remembered for his bleached-blond mohawk, his attention-loving personality and his $11 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks.
After shoulder injuries hampered his playing, the Boz left football in 1990, and told PEOPLE the following year, "Football is so barbaric. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking by playing it. I feel almost like I escaped from boot camp."
He turned to acting after his retirement, starring in the 1991 action movie Stone Cold and 1995's One Man's Justice. More recently, he appeared in last year's The Longest Yard and in a 2005 episode of CSI: Miami.