Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace poses for a photo at Joe Craft Football Training Center in Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Christian Kantosky/The Watchdog

For Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace, food has always been a part of his life.

Every Sunday, his grandmother would spend hours cooking meals for him and his little brother.

Gatherings in his Cincinnati community were not complete without a boxing match on the television and plates of macaroni and cheese, collard greens, yams and fried chicken served on the table.

If there was a cook in the kitchen, Humphrey-Grace said there was a standard to meet.

“If you can’t cook, they gonna let you know,” he said.

According to Humphrey-Grace, his upbringing inspired him to try cooking for himself, but only after he was far from home and could not enjoy home-cooked meals.

Humphrey-Grace committed to play football for the University of South Dakota in 2022. Shortly after arriving on campus, he realized that enjoyable food options were limited.

“When I was at my old school (South Dakota), there wasn’t many restaurants,” Humphrey-Grace said. “I would ask my mom for recipes, and I just started cooking on my own.”

Cooking nights became common at South Dakota. One night while making tacos, his roommate’s mother came by to try his food. According to Humphrey-Grace, she was “blown away” by how delicious it was.

Moments like that gave him a sense of pride, he said, and turned what began as a practical decision into a hobby Humphrey-Grace would carry with him into the next step of his football career.

On Christmas Eve in 2024, after playing football for South Dakota for three seasons, Humphrey-Grace decided to enter the transfer portal. Less than three weeks later, on Jan. 12, 2025, he committed to the University of Kentucky.

However, despite the wide variety of food options around campus, Humphrey-Grace said he still prefers a home-cooked meal.

According to Humphrey-Grace, the food itself is not the only reason why he enjoys the cooking process. He also enjoys the attention to detail required in each step, saying oftentimes if he messed up while cooking, he would throw the entire meal away.

That attention to detail is not limited to cooking. A self-identified perfectionist, Humphrey-Grace said he carries that mindset onto the field as well.

Before going into a game, preparation is key, he said, just as it is in the kitchen.

“I gotta make it perfect,” Humphrey-Grace said. “If it was a play, I want to execute it to the best of my ability.”

That attention to detail is not something he just learned at UK, according to Humphrey-Grace. It was shaped by gatherings with his family and Cincinnati community, watching the adults in the kitchen cook meals to perfection.

Whether preparing a meal or preparing for a game, Humphrey-Grace said he approaches both with the same mindset.

The ingredients may be different, but the goals remain the same: follow the instructions, put in the work, pay attention to every detail, and be ready when it is time to deliver.