American football might be in her blood, but Gracie Hunt once had a different sport in her sights.
The dazzling daughter of Kansas City Chiefs boss, Clark Hunt, and the granddaughter of NFL pioneer Lamar Hunt, had hoped to carve out a career in soccer, until injury led her in a different direction.... beauty pageants.
With her glamorous looks and passion for philanthropy it is easy to see why she has thrived in the world as a beauty queen.
But what was this self-confessed "tomboy" like as a child? HELLO! took a walk down memory lane for a deeper dive into Gracie's transformation.
'First love'
As a young child, Gracie adored soccer, and later hoped to play at college at Southern Methodist University.
The sport created a special bond with her father, which she opened up about in an interview with Maxim: "Soccer helped build my relationship with my dad," she said. "He was my first coach when I was little and those are sweet memories I'll always cherish."
Gracie previously shared a snapshot from her childhood where she proudly stood alongside her dad and younger brother, all wearing FC Dallas soccer kits.
Gracie — now 26 — looked to be around five years old and already had the beauty queen pose down to a fine art. She smiled broadly in the photo with her hands on her hips and with her curly locks worn adorned with a big white bow.
Gracie went on to play soccer in high school and confessed to People in 2021, it was her "first love."
However, it wasn't meant to be. "After suffering four concussions, that was a dream that I could no longer pursue," she told Maxim. "Which is really hard when you work your entire life to be good at something. I had to find a new dream."
Beauty queen
That dream turned out to be pageantry, something her mom, Tavia Hunt, could tell her all about.
As a former beauty queen herself, she paved the way for her daughter and gave her guidance to get into the industry.
"I went and I watched my first one with her when I was around 17 years old, and it was a foreign industry to me," Gracie told NYPost. "I was like, 'OK, you’ve done this, I clearly have no idea what's going on, but can you help me?' And she said, 'I’m not sure because you walk like a soccer tomboy, but we can give it a shot,' and the rest is history."
Gracie went on to become Miss Texas Teen International in 2016 and 2018 and also won the Miss Kansas USA in 2021.
What does Gracie Hunt do for a career?
In addition, she earned her bachelor’s degree in sports management and broadcast journalism from SMU.
She, her father, her mother, Tavia, and siblings, Knobel and Ava, inherited ownership of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006 when Lamar died in 2006.
Gracie has since put her education to work in the family business on marketing and brand development for the Chiefs.
She also runs her lifestyle blog called, Living Gracefully, which focuses on fitness, travel, wellness, workouts and fashion.
Most recently, she launched the Aim True Arrowhead Necklace, which she created in collaboration with jewelry line Monica Rich Kosann.