PARSIPPANY, N.J — What is it about running backs and dancing? The touchdown dance moves of running back Isiah Pacheco, well-known to Rutgers fans, have taken over the NFL over the past two years.
And now it is Kyle Monangai gaining notoriety for his post-game dance celebrations.
Rutgers running backs just seem to love busting a move. And Monangai, the leading rusher in the Big Ten last year, certainly made waves with his dancing.
Last month, after a long interview where he was asked numerous questions about his season and the success of Rutgers football, Monangai was asked about his dancing.
Specifically, the question was: Who would win a dance battle between [autotag]Kyle Monangai [/autotag]and [autotag]Isiah Pacheco[/autotag]?
“I honestly have not been dancing recently as much but you know, Pop dance is what it feels like every day,” Monangai told Rutgers Wire. “So he probably has me right now. But if I started dancing again, I don’t know I might have him.”
Well, that is nice and all that, but who would win right here, right now?
“It’s 50-50, you might have to see who woke up better that day,” Monangai said.
All kidding aside, Rutgers fans love to see Monangai cutting up the rug as it usually means a touchdown or a Scarlet Knights win. He spoke in mid-February at an NIL event, the Morris County Card Show, where he signed autographs for fans.
We win, we dance 🕺🏿 pic.twitter.com/WvXHKz5o2N
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) September 16, 2023
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As for his ability to get jiggy wit it, the dance moves come naturally for Monangai, but they always come with emotion.
He remembers growing up and dancing, something that he says is very much engrained in who he is.
“I’ve been dancing since I was young. I think it is a Jersey thing,” Monangai said.
“I think me and Pop grew up dancing, it is something we love doing. It is something that I carry into adulthood and now. It is something that is in him, something that is in me. Something that we love to do.”
Pacheco had plenty to dance about this past season with the Kansas City Chiefs. The former All-Big Ten selection at Rutgers now has two Super Bowl rings in as many years in the NFL.
He scored a touchdown in each Chiefs’ NFL playoff game leading up to the Super Bowl. He had 935 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season.
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In the 2022 NFL draft, Pacheco was a seventh-round pick out of Rutgers. He won the starting running back job with the Chiefs midway through the regular season of his rookie year.
He scored a second-quarter touchdown in the Super Bowl to cap off his rookie year with the Chiefs.
Scroll down and check out the best photos from Kyle Monangai’s season with Rutgers football, one where the running back led the Big Ten in rushing!