KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs Kingdom erupted at the rarely-seen offensive lineman touchdown, when Nick Allegretti caught a pass from Patrick Mahomes Sunday night in the third quarter of the team's 42-21 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But Allegretti's original "kingdom" may have appreciated it more.
"From everybody back at home, they're beaming," said Brian Papa.
Papa is a soccer coach at Lincoln-Way East High School outside of Chicago, Illinois. He's in town for a convention in Kansas City.
Allegretti is a 2014 graduate of Lincoln-Way East.
"Sunday [I was] watching him, just sitting on my couch," Papa said. "I loved his celebration. Tell Nicky 'Thumbs up, baby!.' I didn't know he could jump that high or slam the ball that hard."
To be fair, Allegretti admitted in an exclusive one-on-one with KSHB 41 Sports that he, too, didn't know what to do.
"I'll be honest, I just started sprinting," said Allegretti. "And I just tried to make eye contact with some o-linemen because this is not our thing. We don't do this. It's fun because they're just as excited as I am."
Papa said he wasn't sure at first that Allegretti scored the touchdown since he was hidden in the formation and, well, because he's an offensive lineman.
"Then when it came on replay, everyone went crazy," Papa said. "All the guys were texting one another, all the people back home."
Allegretti said it was his first touchdown ever in football.
"It was unbelievable," Allegretti said.
And one of the coaches at his old school says it was well-deserved.
"One of the nicest kids you'll want to meet and very humble," Papa said.
