KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Five days after being surprised with tickets by Isiah Pacheco in the Chiefs locker room as the club’s NFL Latino Youth Honors nominees, Jaden Lopez and Ashley Morales were honored on the field before Sunday’s lopsided win against the Baltimore Ravens.
“I was not expecting this,” Lopez — a senior football and baseball player at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri — said. “I’m just happy to be on this field right now.”
Lopez was in awe of standing on the same field as players like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Pacheco and Creed Humphrey.
“Creed Humphrey, for sure,” Lopez said. “I play center and wear his number.”
Morales, who was honored over the public address and on the GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium videoboards along with Lopez before the game, was similarly in awe.
“I’m never going to forget this moment,” Morales said. “This is going to be something that I can tell my kids, grandkids in the future.”
She had never been to Arrowhead before being invited to tour the stadium on Tuesday.
“They’re so tall and so big, it’s like I couldn’t imagine,” Morales said of being on the field for warmups. “It’s so different than at home and just watching from your living room. … They gave me a jersey with my last name on it. It was so amazing, and I had it signed by Pacheco already. I’m just so happy to be here.”
Lopez raised his arms, aiming to hype up the Arrowhead crowd as he and Morales were honored before the game, then they watched Pacheco score on an 8-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes in the second quarter during a 37-20 victory.
It was Mahomes’ 250th career touchdown pass and may trigger even more surprises.
“I can’t wait to see them out there,” Pacheco said after surprising Morales and Lopez in the locker room, “and, most importantly, if I get to score a touchdown hopefully I’ll get to give you all a ball.”
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