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Sports Seriously’s Mackenzie Salmon “overreacts” to the key news from Sunday’s games.
Sport in Seriousness
Instead of walking down the aisle at his sister’s wedding, Kansas City Chiefs running back Carson Steele scurried down the aisles in his first start of his NFL career.
With Steele’s sister Kesslar set to get married on Sunday, the long-haired freshman had an acceptable excuse to miss the special occasion. With running back Isiah Pacheco undergoing leg surgery last week and Clyde Edwards-Elaire on the non-football injured list, Steele started in the prime-time matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, which the Chiefs won 22-17. He rushed for 72 yards on 17 attempts and received unsolicited praise from head coach Andy Reid after the game, according to the Kansas City Star.
“I’m sorry to say this, but I would be here every day of the week,” he said in a postgame interview on NBC.
The Star also reported that Steele watched a video of the ceremony in the dressing room.
During the game, NBC reporter Melissa Stark explained that Kesslar sent out the save-the-date invitations more than a year in advance and that her chosen venue was only available on Sunday, September 22. Steele was set to be best man alongside Kesslar’s new husband, Jack.
At the time, Steele was about to enter his final collegiate season, his first with the UCLA Bruins after two productive seasons at Ball State, where he averaged 5.4 yards per carry (1,556 rushing yards) and scored 14 rushing touchdowns in 2022. The next year at UCLA, he started nine of 12 games and had 847 rushing yards.
The Chiefs signed Steele as an undrafted free agent. He made the team after training camp and appeared in the first two games of the season. He dropped the ball in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but Reid held on to him and made him the primary running back against Atlanta.
A video was shown of wedding guests cheering Steele as he ran for the first down, with Stark saying, “He is with us in spirit.”
“I love you, Kesslar,” Steele said on NBC, “but I’ll take that any day of the week.”
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