Sometime in 1991, Kyle Van Noy’s biological mother gave him up through LDS Social Services with one request: she wanted her son raised Mormon. That was the end of it for her, and the file was sealed. As the healthy baby with curly hair grew up in his adopted household, it was never really a big deal for him. But somewhere in the back of his head, curiosity lingered.

With that, four years ago, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker tried to find out what that sealed file never told him. He found his biological family, and he is ready to talk about it all. Hear it from him:

“About four years ago, I hired a PI and found all that information out,” Van Noy said on The Ross Tucker podcast. “I won’t disclose everything, but it was pretty cool to find out all that information. I know I have siblings elsewhere. They don’t know.

“This could be a whole thing. I kind of want to end up doing something with it because they don’t know I know, but I know like, everything about their lives,” he said, later adding that one of his biological parent was still alive.

On the podcast, Tucker asked if he’d reached out to his family, and Van Noy denied it. When asked if he planned to, he just offered a “to be continued.”

Also, admitting the complexity of the situation, Van Noy added: “Once that door is open, you can’t close it.”

Layne and Kelly Van Noy adopted Kyle Van Noy shortly after his birth in Reno on March 26, 1991. They never met the birth mother because the arrangement was closed from both sides. But soon enough, Van Noy started noticing that he looked nothing like his older brother, Travis, or either of his parents. He asked questions, and they answered. Truthfully.

Years later, reflecting on how that conversation went, Van Noy was comfortable enough to joke about his adoption with his parents.

“I always make fun of them,” he said in an interview in 2021. “‘Out of all the babies, you had to pick someone who’s going to be in the NFL. You guys got lucky!’ They went into the hospital and picked out of the litter, basically.”

But he was also grateful, as he further added, “I’m just blessed that they’re my parents. They’re really, really good people. I’m happy to call them Mom and Dad. They’re good ones.”

But that bond didn’t make the questions about biological bonds disappear. Back in 2019, he was asked how important it would be to have a relationship with his biological family.

“It would be if I had a sibling,” he said, “just to see what someone looks like if they’re half of me. I think as I get older, you kind of want to know more medical [family history], just in case.”

All that led to something much bigger. In 2014, he and his wife, Marissa, founded the Van Noy Valor Foundation, built specifically around adopted children and foster care kids, paralleling his own origin story.

The Van Noy Valor Foundation’s story goes deeper!

On the surface, one would assume the Van Noy Valor Foundation was inspired by Kyle Van Noy’s story. That is true, but only partially. Let us talk about Marissa Powell.

In 2013, she represented Utah in the Miss USA pageant and finished as the third runner-up. But on one of her dates with Van Noy, she found he was adopted, and his story hit home. “She was like, ‘Oh, my dad and brother are, too.’ So, it was cool,” Van Noy remembered back in the day. “It’s a great thing. Their family’s great. Her little brother is just like her real brother.”

That deepened their bond and eventually led to starting the joint charitable venture. They had a common goal: to fight against the stigma surrounding adoption, to help facilitate foster care and adoptions.

“We’re just trying to set them up for success in whatever it is they’re trying to do. Hopefully, we’ll be able to give kids college grants to go to school. That’s our end goal,” he said in 2021.

And as a part of it all, the foundation hosts backpack giveaways for kids, Christmas tree giveaways—things that remind Van Noy of his childhood.