Javion Mahone is Super Bowl-bound due to Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce.
The Chiefs and their future Hall of Fame tight finish stunned Mahone, a senior at Kansas City’s Hogan Prep Academy and pupil at Operation Breakthrough’s Ignition Lab, with airfare, resort lodging and three tickets to Super Bowl LIX.
“I used to be shocked,” Mahone mentioned. “I used to be confused, actually. It was thrilling.”
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Mahone’s mom, Echelle Ward, and brother, Latrell Brown, will be part of him in New Orleans for the NFL’s championship sport. Kelce and the remainder of the Chiefs will likely be there, too.
The crew and Operation Breakthrough posted a video of the second on social media.
“When their mascot and the cheerleaders walked in, I used to be simply in shock,” mentioned Brown, a fifth-grader at Hogan Prep Elementary. “My mouth was vast open, and I used to be like, ‘Wow.’ It’s form of loopy.”
Kansas City is vying for the primary three-peat in Super Bowl historical past in opposition to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 9.
“It’s even higher now,” Mahone mentioned. “I used to be grateful at first, however now it is much more thrilling to go now, realizing that my crew goes to be there.”
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Mahone labored laborious for the second — make no mistake about that.
“Growing up within the metropolis, it is form of robust to steer clear of bother when that is all you’re round,” he mentioned.
But Mahone didn’t need to journey that path, so he leaned into the Ignition Lab, which Kelce helped launch by way of his “87 and Running” basis and the alternatives it gives.
“He’s accomplished quite a lot of cool issues with his life,” mentioned Kelce, who awarded Mahone the tickets as a part of being the Chiefs’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. “It’s simply cool to see him be a pacesetter to his brother and to set a superb instance and present everyone in the neighborhood precisely what Operation Breakthrough and the Ignition Lab can provide.”
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Mahone additionally began a streetwear model known as Lone Wolf, which is a nod to his perception that the neighborhood the place he was born doesn’t should outline him — even when it means strolling his personal path.
“You do not should be a product of your atmosphere,” Mahone mentioned. “It’s OK to do your individual factor, select your individual path and keep solo. … That’s what saved me out of bother. Now, I’ve been doing my very own factor within the Ignition Lab, studying on daily basis and being a task mannequin for others. I simply took that point with myself and advised myself I haven’t got to be what’s round me. I could be one thing completely different and optimistic.”
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Mahone, who rebounded from knee surgical procedure as a junior to play vast receiver and security for his highschool Rams final fall, mentioned he didn’t know profession fields like graphic design and inexperienced know-how existed till he began finding out on the Ignition Lab.
Now, he desires to play soccer in school, examine graphic design and hopes to develop his personal greens as a manner to make sure wholesome consuming habits.
“I simply need to be like my brother,” Brown mentioned.
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As he’s matured, Mahone has turn into keenly conscious that his brother and different kids watch how he conducts himself.
“With each little state of affairs, I’ve obtained to know that he is watching me, I’ve obtained to look at how I reply to sure issues, how I deal with sure issues, as a result of he will choose up off of what I do,” Mahone mentioned. “So, I strive my finest to remain optimistic, keep targeted and keep laborious working.”
Kelce observed, however so have the individuals who encompass Mahone on daily basis.
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“I’m a agency believer that good issues occur to good folks — and he is positively good folks,” soccer coach Phil Lascuola mentioned. “I’ve seen quite a lot of good folks by way of my years right here at Hogan Prep, and he’s proper up right here with the most effective of them so far as character, talents and simply the best way he carries himself in the neighborhood.
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“He most likely deserves much more than tickets to the Super Bowl, however that is an important, nice accomplishment — an important, nice alternative and expertise for him,” Lascuola mentioned. “… To see that someone who takes benefit of these alternatives is ‘Ramazing.’ It’s simply unbelievable, and it hits you within the coronary heart, form of chokes you up, and also you simply need to see profitable issues for him.”
Mahone — who performed tight finish and studied Kelce’s strikes earlier than a place change after tearing his ACL, MCL and meniscus in 2023 — mentioned he plans to put on a Kelce jersey on the large sport.
This story was initially revealed by Tod Palmer at Scripps News Kansas City.
