These sports standouts don’t fear Chuck Norris. Because he’s their granddad

When Chuck Norris’s grandson makes a tackle in a football game, he rips a hole in the fabric of space-time.

Well, maybe that isn’t quite true, but suffice to say Max Norris and his twin sister Greta certainly make their grandfather, the famous actor and martial arts legend, proud in many ways. Not the least of these is their athletic performance, since each have helped their teams (Max in football and Greta in soccer) to state championships for Grapevine Faith High School last year as juniors.

“He’s always shown us never give up and follow your dreams,” Greta said of her grandfather. “He wouldn’t have the legacy he has today if he’d not done that himself.”

Having Chuck Norris as your grandfather is a cool thing to friends. While most of their classmates are used to it by now, there’s always the newcomer who realizes the connection for the first time.

“We just kind of go with it. We hear it so much, but it’s still cool,” Max said.

“We’ve never known anything else,” Greta said. “He’s always been our grandpa.”

Max plays linebacker and has also been a part of the Lions’ rotation at running back this season. Max said his grandfather also played running back, giving them something in common.

“We talk about the great times in high school — for me and sometimes when he played,” Max said.

Max’s dad, Mike Norris, also played linebacker and running back in high school.

“He gets a kick out of watching me hit somebody hard,” Max said with a smile.

Through the first eight games of this season, Max led the team with 102 tackles and was on pace to break his career-best 108 last season. He is the team’s all-time leading tackler with 295 (so far), dating to 2007, when the program began keeping official statistics.

Chuck was in the stands when the Lions won the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Division II state championship last season.

“It was great that he came out to support us. The whole team was excited. He was really excited too,” Max said.

Unfortunately, Chuck was in California on business when Greta’s team won state. But she said her grandpa is a soccer fan, and she and her team plan on giving him a chance to attend this year’s title match.

“It looks like our team is going to be great again, and I’m sure he’ll be there this time,” she said. “He’s a fan of any sport we play.”

Chuck lives on a ranch near College Station. Max and Greta visit him about twice a year. The visits are always memorable, they said.

“As we’ve grown up, we’ve gotten a lot closer,” Max said.

“He’s still a little kid at heart,” Greta said. “He’ll tell us stories from back in the days. He makes us laugh.”

Speaking of laughing, they are well aware of the many Chuck Norris jokes circulating. They love them, and Max said their grandpa loves them as well.

“There’s one, a cobra bit Chuck Norris, and a little later the cobra died,” Max said.

“He’ll say, ‘Those are all true, by the way,’” Greta said.

They’ve also done some acting, like their grandfather. In fact, Max has been in the popular TV series Walker, Texas Ranger with Chuck.

“I did a series of shows with him. I think I was about 1,” Max said. “I’m not so much into acting any more.”

While Greta hasn’t acted so much with her grandfather, she has been in about five movies with her dad.

“It’s kind of a father-daughter special thing we have,” she said. “The last movie I was in was my sophomore year. I do enjoy it.”

They didn’t however, enjoy martial arts as much as their grandfather, who is one of the greatest ever at the sport. But they did give it a try.

“My dad was really good at it, and he put us in it,” Max said. “It lasted about a year.”

Greta and Max are both considering continuing their sports into college. She wants to study fashion merchandising and he plans to study business.

“A couple of years ago (Chuck) wanted us to go to Texas A&M and live with him,” Greta said. “We’re not sure A&M is in our future, but we do love going to the ranch, and we’re going to keep going there as often as we can.

“We just love our grandpa. He’s a special part of our lives.”

This story was originally published November 9, 2017 at 2:16 PM with the headline "These sports standouts don’t fear Chuck Norris. Because he’s their granddad."