Gina Joy Carano was born under a tornado warning in Dallas, Texas to parents Glenn and Dana Carano. Her father played for the Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys as a backup quarterback for Roger Staubach and Danny White from 1977-1983. In 1984 he was the starting quarterback for the USFL Pittsburgh Maulers. Gina’s parents divorced when she was a child but her father remained involved in her upbringing and is her biggest fan. She has stated that her family has a "small percentage" of Italian ancestry. The middle child of three close-knit girls -- Casey being a year older and Christie, the youngest -- Gina is their self-proclaimed bodyguard and highly protective of them. All three girls were star athletes in high school. Growing up in Las Vegas, Gina -- a natural born athlete and rambunctious tomboy -- studied gymnastics, jazz, tap, ballet, rode horses, whooped up on her male cousins for fun at family gatherings, and wrestled and played football with the neighborhood boys.