Gracie Hunt on her beau: His tie to Patrick Mahomes and ‘stamp of approval’ from mom
Gracie Hunt has been slowly introducing her new boyfriend, Cody Keith, to Chiefs Kingdom since the summer. But two people in her life knew him before she did — including Patrick Mahomes.
In a new interview, the 25-year-old daughter of Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt and his wife Tavia describes how Keith, 33, was a man on a “mission” when they met and that her mom had already vetted him as a potential boyfriend.
“I feel like I’m living in my own little ‘Holiday Touchdown,’” Hunt said, referencing the Hallmark Christmas rom-com about the Chiefs in which she made a cameo appearance.
Hunt spoke to Fox Sports outlet, OutKick, before Christmas and explained that since the team was playing in Pittsburgh on Christmas Day, the Hunts were to celebrate on Christmas Eve with church, dinner and a gift exchange.
After that, she said, the family planned to head out of town “for a few days and unplug” before “hitting the ground running” in the new year, which may or may not include a third straight Super Bowl appearance for the team.
Since Christmas she’s been posting photos of tropical beaches and sunsets.
This past year was busy for the former Miss Kansas USA, a lifestyle influencer whose “Living Gracefully” posts follow the themes of fitness, fashion and philanthropy.
She designed a capsule collection of NFL gear for women with Fox sports commentator Erin Andrews and her WEAR line of sports apparel.
She also became a proud dog mom of a fluffy white Pomeranian named Yeti — “my first-born child,” she said — that turned 1 this month and now makes regular appearances on her Instagram.
Hunt also spent time traveling between her home in Dallas and Kansas City and fitting in trips to North Carolina to visit Keith.
The two have football, faith and close family ties in common.
The Charlotte native, now a real estate broker for his father’s firm, was a reserve quarterback for East Carolina University where he graduated in May 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
Hunt revealed that their relationship began with some friendly matchmaking.
She said her mom serves on the board of the Colorado-based Christian organization Focus on the Family and the Hunts are close to the group’s president, Jim Daly.
Keith’s family is also involved with the group, she said.
Knowing that both Hunt and Keith were single, Daly told her “you two belong together.”
Tavia Hunt met Keith at a board meeting and “she connected us,” said Hunt. “My mom actually met him before I did. She sourced him for me, so he came with Tavia Hunt’s stamp of approval.”
She said Keith “flew to see me in Colorado and left with me as his girlfriend because that was his mission when he came there. And I’m usually so not that person. And I was like, ‘All right, let’s date. Let’s see.’
“It’s been such a blessing. He’s such a wonderful person.”
She said Keith “made a huge effort” to attend Chiefs games this season.
“Obviously I love the Chiefs and I love football season. He grew up playing football and he and Patrick actually trained together out of college,” Hunt said. “And so they had a preexisting friendship.
“And it’s just so funny how small the world is because they’ve been buddies this whole time, and then it took him all this time to meet me. So it’s been really fun having him be a part of football season.”
Keith writes on his LinkedIn profile that after college he was “offered numerous invitations to participate in NFL rookie mini-camps around the country. I chose to attend training camp with the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins, and Indianapolis Colts.
“After my time in the NFL, I accepted a preseason roster spot to play football in the Canadian Football League for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“For the next 2 years I chased my dream of again playing football in the NFL. I was able to attend numerous other NFL/CFL training camps and one-on-one individual workouts to showcase my skill set in front of owners, general managers, offensive coordinators, and head coaches.
“I continue to maintain strong relationships with a plethora of NFL players and coaches.”
Keith began showing up on Hunt’s Instagram over the summer and they have celebrated holidays together ever since.
He came to Kansas City for the Chiefs-Bengals game on Sept. 15 where they posed for pregame sideline photos at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The next week they were together in Atlanta for the Chiefs-Falcons game. Then he was with her at So-Fi Stadium watching the Chiefs beat the division rival Chargers in Los Angeles just hours after they attended a music festival in Charlotte.
Talking about projects coming up in the new year, Hunt said she’s in the early stages of “the next fun thing” that she can’t talk about yet.
She quickly clarified it is “a professional thing,” not personal.
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