How Kansas City Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco earned the nickname "Pop" at Vineland High School
VINELAND, N.J. (CBS) -- A South Jersey community has many reasons to root for the the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers with one of their own in the big game.
But Jose Guzman, the head coach of the football team at Vineland High School, isn't a Chiefs fan.
"My favorite team is the San Francisco 49ers," Guzman said.
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However, for the last two years, it's clear where Guzman's loyalty lies.
"I'm with family all day, as you can see, Isiah Pacheco," said Guzman, who was wearing a jersey of his cousin Pacheco, the Chiefs running back.
Guzman coached Pacheco when he attended Vineland High School from 2014-18.
"When he stepped on the field, teams already knew it was like, 'We have to stop this guy,'" Guzman said.
And back when Pacheco was in high school at Vineland, he earned the nickname "Pop."
"He was in a game; his father and his brother were watching him and they heard a crack and they looked and it was Pop, popping someone on the field," Guzman said. "The crack was that loud."
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That drive and toughness carried him to the NFL, where he won a Super Bowl ring his rookie year with the Chiefs. He's also become known for his angry runs.
"I try to get him to look at the sideline a little more, but he is just, that is not his M.O. He is all about it, doesn't matter what's in front of him," Nick Basile, of Vineland Blitz Football, said.
Nor does it matter where he is – the Super Bowl champ is also all about repping Jersey.
And every summer since his freshman year in high school, Pacheco puts on a youth football camp in Vineland – showing the next generation of NFL hopefuls that their dreams are within reach.
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"For him to go again, back-to-back Super Bowls, you can't script a better story than that," Guzman said. "If they win that Super Bowl, I can guarantee you Vineland will be shut down and it'll be the Pop parade part two."
