TEAM SPIRIT: Chiefs heiress Gracie Hunt roots for players in sporty bikini at start of season's training camp
Gracie Hunt, the daughter of Chiefs' owner Clark Hunt, expressed her support for the team reporting for training camp on her Instagram on July 27, Wednesday. She uploaded pictures of herself wearing a black and red bikini and promoted the week-long event, filmed for Discovery Channel, in the post's caption — "Chiefs training camp [right arrow] meets #Sharkweek."
Gracie went on to praise Chiefs defensive end Frank "The Shark" Clark, saying, "Very appropriate since we have our own shark. #55." While the 23-year-old Gracie is undoubtedly enjoying Shark Week, which ends on July 30, she is also getting ready for the Chiefs' upcoming season as the club players reported to training camp this week.
READ MORE
‘Shark Week’: SCARY footage shows expert diver narrowly escape jaws of a GREAT WHITE
What is the history of Super Bowl? NFL game returns to Los Angeles where it all started 55 years ago
How Gracie Hunt went from being soccer star to Miss USA contestant
Gracie was born on March 29, 1999 in Dallas, Texas to Tavia Shackles and Clark Hunt. Lamar Hunt, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is her paternal grandfather. Both the American Football League (AFL) in 1959 and Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1993 were mostly founded by him. He passed away in Dallas on December 13, 2006, at the age of 74.
Growing up, Gracie played soccer, but due to a string of injuries, she was forced to give up her dream of playing professionally. She addressed her desire to play soccer and her search for a new passion in an interview with People magazine: "Soccer was my first love. I wanted to play in college. I won the championship when I was in high school with my high school team, and played club, as well." But life had other plans for her. "After suffering four concussions, that was a dream that I could no longer pursue," Gracie recounted. "Which is really hard when you work your entire life to be good at something. I had to find a new dream."
'Breaking Barriers Through Sports', a nonprofit that brings people from all walks of life together, was founded by Gracie Hunt. She was connected to the Special Olympics in 2015 when she joined the FC Dallas Special Olympics soccer team as a member of the Unified team. She began covering Unified competitions three years later and eventually was elected to the Special Olympics boards for Southern Texas and Southern Kansas.
Gracie started her college life in 2017 at Dallas' Southern Methodist University (SMU). She earned a bachelor's degree in sports management from SMU last year. In April of 2021, she was also crowned Miss Kansas USA and at the time, she was 22 years old. In 1993, her mother won Miss USA's second runner-up title and served as Miss Kansas USA. Gracie was placed among the top 16 contestants at the Miss USA competition in November 2021.