It’s often said that behind every successful man is a great woman, but when it comes to the Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy, and Miss USA Runner-up Marissa Powell, they stand side by side. The couple is building not just a family, but a foundation that’s changing the lives of countless kids.

Van Noy’s wife Powell belongs to Salt Lake City in Utah and is a proud daughter of Jim and Shannon Powell. She was born on May 22, 1992, and excelled in volleyball while attending Skyline High School in her hometown. Her incredible potential earned her a scholarship to Westminster University, where she continued playing volleyball at the LIB position. 

She not only played volleyball throughout her high school and college days, but she also coached the sport at summer camps for three years. Furthermore, she loves singing and her dream job is to one day make therapeutic music. She’s also immersed in acting, appearing in ABC’s What Would You Do? and gracing the covers of fitness magazines like New York Magazine. 

The couple met at Brigham Young University for the first time when Marissa was a model and Kyle was into football. They started dating in 2011 and officially engaged on Dec 2, 2013. Miss Utah changed her surname to “Marissa Van Noy” in 2014 after the wedding. The same year, Kyle was drafted as the 40th pick in the second round by the Detroit Lions in the NFL. 

But she isn’t just along for the ride. She’s deeply involved in their shared mission through the ‘Van Noy Valor Foundation‘, a charity focused on helping underprivileged kids and making foster care more accessible.

They welcomed their first child, Trey Legend Van Noy, on September 8, 2019. Subsequently, on 23 February 2022, their first daughter, Giavanna Mone Van Noy, was born. The mom of two shared this happiness on Instagram, saying, “a dream come true.”

Her Instagram page is a real treat for fans, offering a peek into their lively household with all the ups and downs of parenting. While Kyle continues to make waves with the Ravens, his better-half is busy managing the home front and their foundation.

Kyle Van Noy and Marissa Powell’s love story 

As mentioned earlier, they met around 2011. But there was a little drama involved. On June 4, 2014, the couple appeared in an interview with Dan Rascon, where they opened up about their initial meetings and the challenges they overcame along the way.

On the set, Kyle jokingly said that Marissa “ditched” him on their first meet. She then mentioned, “I wasn’t sure, but that quickly changed. First date, I was like, okay, he’s really cool, and I really connect with him.”

She would later become Miss Utah and Kyle was preparing for the NFL Draft. In June 2013, Marissa was at the top of her game, and she made it to the third runner-up in the Miss USA pageant. She felt that it was unreal because she was facing criticism for her fumbling answer to a question at the Miss USA pageant. “To the first couple of days, I was feeling so down; I just didn’t even want to get out of bed. I didn’t want to see anybody, and I was getting some pretty rotten messages,” she expressed.

It was the feeling that Kyle could relate to, as he was once arrested on suspicion of DUI. He sat out his freshman year at BYU for an honor code violation that even got national media attention. “I felt for her, and she kind of recognized that I understood. I was probably the only person who really understood where she was coming from,” the linebacker reflected.

Kyle didn’t wait for the perfect moment, instead, he created one. He proposed her, which caught Marissa completely surprised. “He nailed it“, she said.

Soon the couple tied the knot at the LDS temple in Salt Lake City in 2014, just a month after the NFL Draft. The mom of two, now believes that it’s not all about being perfect all the time, we might make mistakes and sometimes we may fall, but need to rely on God, family, and the people around us, who are going to lift and pick us up.