Carson Steele missed his sister’s wedding on Sunday. He had a good excuse.
The Chiefs rookie made his debut as a starting NFL running back in Kansas City’s 22-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
As Steele took a handoff from Patrick Mahomes on Kansas City’s opening drive, friends and family gathered in Greenwood, Indiana, to celebrate his sister Kesslar’s marriage. It appears that there are no hard feelings over his absence.
NBC shared video from the wedding reception, which included Steele’s debut as an integral part of party. Revelers gathered around a big screen to watch Steele’s first carry. It was a seven-yard gain on second-and-4 for a Chiefs first down, prompting a round of cheers from the wedding crowd. The groom, identified by NBC as Jack, shared video of the moment with the network.
Had Steele not been playing NFL football Sunday night, he would have been a groomsman. He told the Kansas City Star that he didn’t want his game to be a distraction from the festivities. It seems that Kesslar wasn’t having that.
“I was like, ‘If too many people are watching the game, go ahead and turn that TV off,’” Steele said. “But she just fell for it. She’s always there for me, too.”
The evening turned out to be a success for the Steele family in both locales. From the look of the video shared by Jack, everyone was having a good time at the wedding. Steele, meanwhile, had a strong debut as an NFL starter in a Chiefs victory.
He finished the night with 17 carries for 72 yards as the clear No. 1 option in the Kansas City backfield. Samaje Perine tallied six carries for 25 yards and three catches for 15 yards as the No. 2 option. It’s a scenario that Steele surely didn’t imagine this time last year or even weeks ago during Kansas City’s training camp.
The Chiefs signed Steele as an undrafted rookie out of UCLA. He wasn’t a sure bet to make the roster, much less land a starting role. But he made the 53-man cut out of training camp and played in a limited capacity during Kansas City’s 2-0 start, tallying nine carries for 27 yards in Weeks 1 and 2.
Then, last week, Isiah Pacheco fractured his fibula. The Chiefs’ regular starting running back required surgery and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks at a minimum, if not longer. In a next-man-up league, that opened the opportunity for Steele to take on a starting role for the reigning Super Bowl champions.
It all added up to Steele missing his sister’s wedding. Which begs the question: If your brother and groomsman is an NFL player, why schedule your wedding for a Sunday in the fall?
“I was like, ‘Hey, you can’t plan weddings in September when your brother plays in the NFL,'” Steele told the Star. “But obviously, she didn’t listen to me too well.”
The Star made sure to note that Steele made his comment with a smile on his face.
It turns out that the wedding was booked long before Steele was in the NFL. Per the Star, Kesslar and Jack planned the event nearly two years ago, a timeframe that would place Steele as either a rising junior at UCLA or maybe even a sophomore at Ball State before he transferred.
At that point, it appears that nobody in the Steele family envisioned Carson’s rise to NFL prominence.
