Jalen Royals just said what every Kansas City fan was already thinking
The 2025 NFL Draft was a lot of fun for Kansas City Chiefs fans. The team addressed the holes on their roster and got some big steals in the process as well. One of those steals was Utah State wide receiver Jalen Royals, who K.C. snagged in the fourth round, a pick that Chiefs fans were beyond thrilled about.
Not only is Royals already making waves in training camp but the immediate thing that excited everyone about him had nothing to do with his football skills.
No, fans were excited about Royals getting drafted by the Chiefs because the Major League Baseball team in Kansas City is known as the Royals. Now fans will have a chance to own a Chiefs jersey that says ROYALS on the back.
What a dream.
The rookie receiver recently spoke about the coincidence and said that he’s “embracing” sharing the name of another team in his new city.
“I’m from Atlanta, so I’m still a Braves fan at the end of the day,” Royals said. “But I’m still embracing that. I went to one game a couple weeks ago. Just trying to embrace my last name for this fan base has been pretty cool. It’s once in a lifetime that everybody sees ‘Royals’ on the back and he plays for the Chiefs, so it’s great.”
Jalen Royals gives Chiefs fans a dream they never thought was possible
Naturally, Royals’ jersey will likely become a popular one in Kansas City, even if he doesn’t become a big-name player because of him sharing the same name as the baseball team.
How many fans can say that they have a non-custom made jersey that says the name of one of their other favorite sports teams? That’s now something Chiefs fans can claim.
The only unfortunate part here is that Royals’ jersey couldn’t line up with one of the years the Royals won a championship.
Obviously, he wasn’t going to be wearing No. 15 since some guy named Patrick Mahomes wears that number but No. 85 was taken by Robert Tonyan, a tight end fighting for a roster spot. Royals ultimately is wearing No. 11.
For what it’s worth, the 2011 Royals went 71-91 and finished fourth in the AL Central. Let’s hope that Royals (as in the Chiefs wide receiver) can put together a better rookie year than whatever 20 games under .500 would equate to in the NFL.
