If you didn’t watch Super Bowl LVII on Sunday (February 12), you missed one helluva game, especially from Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco.
The Latino rookie led his team in rushing with 76 yards on 15 carries and punched in a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter. The Chiefs won the championship over the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35. And with his touchdown, Pacheco became the first rookie running back to reach the end zone since 2019.
After the game, Pacheco celebrated on the field with his family. There was a lot of hugging and tears of joy for the Pacheco family.
He also took some time to speak with ESPN Mexico. “To support my culture, my family, New Jersey, this team [and] to be a part of a success like this … it’s what you do with the moment when you have it,” he said.
Pacheco explained that he spent the entire week working on himself and getting ready for the biggest game of his life. “I was putting in the work when nobody was around,” he said. “Dreaming, thinking about it, praying on it. You see the results. It all worked off teamwork.”
Down 24-14 at halftime, Pacheco said that in the locker room, Chiefs’ coach Andy Reid told the team to “be yourself, let your personality show and leave it all out there.”
To all the aspiring, Latine professional athletes, Pacheco hopes to give them inspiration and show them they can reach the heights he did on Super Bowl Sunday. “You’re going to go through adversity [but] it’s how you handle it,” he said. “For me, I did what I had to do day in and day out to get here. Not one moment have I let slip. Stay on task and the results will show.”
When Pacheco finally got back to the locker room, the celebration didn’t end.
Chiefs’ fans and others celebrated with Pacheco online, too, after the game was over.
If all that wasn’t exciting enough, Pacheco and fellow Chiefs’ rookie Skyy Moore were given the task of dumping a water cooler full of Gatorade on Coach Reid after the victory.
Isiah Pacheco is only 23 years old, but for the rest of his life, he will forever be known as a champion.