KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Most great athletes are motivated by something larger than themselves.
Their drive may come from an array of various things — money, fame, disrespect, upbringing, family, survival.
The source of Isiah Pacheco’s drive is as unmistakable because it is unbreakable.
The 23-year-old Chiefs rookie running back, who got to Kansas City and the AFC Championship game Sunday against the Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium by means of rural Vineland, N.J., and Rutgers, is driven by family tragedy.
Pacheco’s youth was eternally scarred by the lack of his brother and sister to murder in a span of lower than two years when he was in highschool in South Jersey. Those tragic events spurred Pacheco to a relentless pursuit of greatness.
Everyone knows the Chiefs for Patrick Mahomes. And why not? The NFL’s perennial MVP favorite has produced 45 touchdowns (41 passing and 4 rushing) and thrown for five,250 yards this season.
As Mahomes goes, the Chiefs go.
But don’t sleep on Pacheco, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound can of whoop-ass who keeps opposing defenses honest, prevents them from defending only Mahomes.
Never has Pacheco been more vital to the Chiefs than he might be on Sunday with Mahomes expected to be a minimum of somewhat compromised by the high ankle sprain he sustained last week in a playoff win over Jacksonville.
Surely, some are surprised by what Pacheco has achieved so quickly, going from a seventh-round draft pick project out of Rutgers to RB1 for the Chiefs, leading the team with 830 rushing yards, a 4.9-yard average and five touchdowns.
Those that aren’t surprised by Pacheco’s achievements are those that know him best, starting with Greg Schiano, his former head coach at Rutgers.
“I don’t think anybody could have predicted that he’d be this successful this quickly, but I told everybody [scouts] who got here to Rutgers to see him, ‘He’s the toughest practice player I’ve ever coached,’ ” Schiano told The Post. “I’m just so pleased for him and his family. He’s worked for each little bit of it. He’s overcome loads. He had a rough upbringing. Lot of affection, but loads of trauma there, too.
“He saw some tragic things. But he’s overcome. He’s got those who love him and care about him, but there’s loads of history there, too. I’m really excited for him. He deserves this. It’s pretty cool.”
Pacheco’s older brother, Travoise, was stabbed to death at age 29 on January 10, 2016 in Bridgeton, N.J.
Then, on Sept. 20, 2017, his sister, Celeste, was present in her Millville home, dead from a gunshot wound to the top. The killer was a person with whom she shared a toddler.
In a 2019 interview with NJ.com, Pacheco said his sister “was like a best friend” to him and reflected on his brother’s death.
“My brother, if he was to see me here, he’d be shocked,” he said. “He encouraged me to play football as a child and he never got the chance to see me play. Having a possibility to play ball, it helps me loads not worrying concerning the tragedies that happened. It makes me need to go harder.”
Pacheco’s arms are adorned with tattoos honoring his brother and sister.
“I play football for them,” he said.
Kansas City head coach Andy Reid, who also has endured unthinkable family tragedy, with one in every of his sons dying of an accidental drug overdose and one other in prison for severely injuring a young girl in an alcohol-related crash, is definitely pleased Pacheco is playing for the Chiefs.
In Kansas City’s divisional playoff win over the Jaguars, Pacheco rushed for 95 yards on 12 carries and took loads of burden off of Mahomes. He’s absolutely one in every of the keys for Kansas City to win and advance to the Super Bowl.
“I’ve been waiting on this moment my whole life,” Pacheco told reporters this week.
“He’s so physically gifted,” Mahomes said. “It’s hard for defenses to account for the way physical he runs.”
Jay Butler, Schiano’s strength and conditioning coach at Rutgers, said he never has seen a player embrace the exertions behind the scenes as Pacheco did when he was with the Scarlet Knights.
“There’s no doubt he loves football; that’s No. 1,” Butler told The Post. “His motivation comes from his whole family situation. After I’ve talked to him, he’s said, ‘That’s why I am going hard on a regular basis. I can’t not go hard daily.’
“If there’s one guy that deserves to make it with the stuff he’s passed through and the way hard he’s worked it’s him.”
If anyone ever were to wonder about Pacheco’s resilience and mental fortitude, he attended his sister’s funeral the morning of Sept. 29, 2017 and played in Vineland High’s 60-6 win over Cumberland Regional that evening, rushing for 157 yards and three touchdowns.
Three days after his sister’s death, he ran for 222 yards and a touchdown to steer the Vineland to a 42-6 win over Egg Harbor Township on Sept. 23, 2017.
“He’s ultimately very motivated to be great,” Schiano said. “The long run’s vivid for him. I just can’t wait to see him develop.”
In the various conversations he had with Pacheco about playing within the NFL, one in every of Schiano’s constant messages to him was about how “loads of guys get there, get to training camps, but it surely’s about staying there, making it a profession.”
Barring injury, Pacheco looks to be in Kansas City to remain.
“I used to be grateful for Andy and the Chiefs for taking him,” Schiano said.
Surely not as grateful as Reid and the Chiefs are to have him.