NFL rookie Carson Steele — who was supposed to spend Sunday attending his sister’s wedding — got the call for his first start in the league and to say he had a great game would be an understatement.
The Kansas City rookie running back finally made his debut when the Chiefs traveled to Atlanta to play the Falcons, where he ended up having a great night, with a team-high of 72 rushing yards while getting the majority of the team’s carries, Fox News reported. He also averaged 4.2 yards a carry, helping give the Super Bowl-winning team a 22-17 victory over Atlanta.
However, Atlanta was not where he was originally supposed to be. An NBC broadcaster noted that Steele had opted to skip his sister’s wedding, where he was supposed to be a groomsman, after scoring his rookie start to play the game against the Falcons.
In the segment — which has since gone viral — the network shared a clip from the sister’s wedding reception with the family and friends standing in front of a giant screen that was broadcasting her brother’s game.
Carson Steele’s family is watching SNF from his sister’s wedding ❤️@Chiefs @carsonsteele30 pic.twitter.com/dM21W7LoBi
— NFL (@NFL) September 23, 2024
The wedding party wasn’t dancing in the video, instead appeared to be watching very intently as Steele made his debut — and when the rookie had a huge run down the field, the wedding party began to cheer and jump up and down as Steele’s entire family caught him making his “first NFL start.”
Following the Chiefs’ victory, Steele was interviewed by the “Sunday Night Football” broadcast crew and he made it clear, there was no place he would’ve rather been.
“Man, I hate to say it … I’d be here every day of the week,” Steele said with a smile. “Love you, Kessler, hope it went well. But I’m picking this every day of the week.”
Steele’s big shot came after the Kansas City star player Isiah Pacheco was injured last week when the Chiefs played against the Cincinnati Bengals. He is out for the next few weeks due to a fractured fibula, allowing a hole in the team for Steele to step up along with Samaje Perine, who shared running duties, the outlet noted.
The rookie running back came to the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent, after he spent his college years between Ball State and UCLA — where he ran for 3,294 yards and 26 touchdowns in 36 career games, Fox News noted.
Despite another sluggish performance by the Chiefs’ star QB Patrick Mahomes — who threw his fourth interception in just three games of the 2024 season — the Chiefs held on to come from behind and get the victory.
