The NFL draft in Kansas City officially made the Chiefs the host team and put its players front and center for the weekend. Isiah Pacheco last year was selected in the final round of the draft and quickly became the top running back on the team’s depth chart.
Pacheco recently teamed with franchise legend Derrick Johnson to speak with local military from Whiteman Air Force Base and Fort Leavenworth at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que hosted by USAA. The event was part of NFL draft weekend in Kansas City, highlighting the community and the franchise’s newest star.
Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with Pacheco to discuss his support from his New Jersey hometown, his mindset for next season, and his touchdown dance.
“Everything that you hope and you wish to have for me,” said Pacheco, “I’m very blessed and thankful to have the whole of New Jersey (rooting) for me because knowing that we just played against the Philadelphia Eagles. So, I was growing up as a Philadelphia Eagles fan (and) I had to put my pride aside and lock in on my job to understand why and who was behind me. I didn’t want to come back to New Jersey, not winning championships to hear the Eagles fans.”
One year ago, @isiah_pachecoRB waited until the 7th round to hear his name called.
Now, his hometown is throwing the Super Bowl champ his very own parade ❤️🎉 pic.twitter.com/46qUp3HI73
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) April 25, 2023
Pacheco has been praised constantly by his alma mater Rutgers and the state of New Jersey. He was honored with a parade recently and continues to be acknowledged by the Scarlett Knights community, all while getting ready for his sophomore NFL season.
“That mindset heading into year two is to get as healthy as I can to be able to compete the whole season,” said Pacheco. “To allow me to give myself a chance to be able to play at my highest performance.”
Pacheco became the full-time starting running back in Week 7 and hasn’t looked back, garnering a following of Chiefs fans who have embraced his celebratory touchdown dances along the way. He wasn’t shy to proclaim himself the best end zone dancer compared to his All-Pro teammate Travis Kelce.
“I gotta go with me. I’m gonna tell Trav (Travis Kelce), too, when I see him. I gotta go with me,” said Pacheco. “He might have gotten me on the stanky leg, but with all the jersey club, he don’t know how to jersey club. I’m gonna go with me.”
The Chiefs hope to see more touchdown dancing from Pacheco and his teammates in 2023 as they attempt to repeat as champions.
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