KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Javion Mahone is Super Bowl-bound thanks to Travis Kelce.
The Kansas City Chiefs and their future Hall of Fame tight end surprised Mahone, a senior at Hogan Prep Academy and student at Operation Breakthrough’s Ignition Lab, with airfare, hotel accommodations and three tickets to Super Bowl LIX in mid-January.
“I was shocked,” Mahone said. “I was at a loss for words, really. It was exciting.”
Mahone’s mother, Echelle Ward, and brother, Latrell Brown, will join him in New Orleans for the NFL’s championship game.
It turns out that Kelce and the rest of the Chiefs will be there, too.
The team and Operation Breakthrough posted a video of the moment on social media.
Operation Breakthrough student Javion is headed to Super Bowl LIX, courtesy of @tkelce! Enjoy the game, Javion 🥹 pic.twitter.com/HFerpLSMdr
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 17, 2025
“When their mascot and the cheerleaders walked in, I was just in shock,” said Brown, a fifth-grader at Hogan Prep Elementary. “My mouth was wide open, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ It's kind of crazy.”
Kansas City is vying for the first three-peat in Super Bowl history against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 9.
“It's even better now,” Mahone said. “I was thankful at first, but now it's even more exciting to go now, knowing that my team is going to be there.”
Mahone worked hard for the moment — make no mistake about that.
“Growing up in the city, it's kind of tough to stay away from trouble when that's all you’re around,” he said.
But Mahone didn’t want to travel that path, so he leaned into the Ignition Lab, which Kelce helped launch through his 87 & Running Foundation, and the opportunities it provides.
“He's done a lot of cool things with his life,” said Kelce, who awarded Mahone the tickets as part of being the Chiefs’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. “It's just cool to see him be a leader to his brother and to set a good example and show everybody in the community exactly what Operation Breakthrough and the Ignition Lab can offer.”
Mahone also started a streetwear brand called Lone Wolf, which is a nod to his belief that the neighborhood where he was born doesn’t have to define him — even if it means walking his own path.
“You don't have to be a product of your environment,” Mahone said. “It's OK to do your own thing, choose your own path and stay solo. ... That's what kept me out of trouble. Now, I’ve been doing my own thing in the Ignition Lab, learning every day and being a role model for others. I just took that time with myself and told myself I don't have to be what's around me. I can be something different and positive.”
Mahone, who rebounded from knee surgery as a junior to play wide receiver and safety for the Rams last fall, said he didn’t know career fields like graphic design and green technology existed until he started studying at the Ignition Lab.
Now, he wants to play football in college, study graphic design and hopes to grow his own vegetables as a way to ensure healthy eating habits.
“I just want to be like my brother,” Brown said.
As he’s matured, Mahone has become keenly aware that his brother and other youngsters watch how he conducts himself.
“With every little situation, I’ve got to know that he's watching me, I’ve got to watch how I respond to certain things, how I deal with certain things, because he's going to pick up off of what I do,” Mahone said. “So, I try my best to stay positive, stay focused and stay hard working.”
Kelce noticed, but so have the people who surround Mahone every day.
“I'm a firm believer that good things happen to good people — and he's definitely good people,” Rams football coach Phil Lascuola said. “I've seen a lot of good people through my years here at Hogan Prep, and he’s right up here with the best of them as far as character, abilities and just the way he carries himself in the community.
“He probably deserves a lot more than tickets to the Super Bowl, but that's a great, great accomplishment — a great, great opportunity and experience for him. ... To see that somebody who takes advantage of those opportunities is ‘Ramazing.’ It's just unbelievable, and it hits you in the heart, kind of chokes you up, and you just want to see successful things for him.”
Mahone — who played tight end and studied Kelce’s moves before a position change after tearing his ACL, MCL and meniscus in 2023 — said he plans to wear a Kelce jersey at the game.
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KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.