KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF) — The mystery is solved!
After days of searching, the person who caught Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Chad Henne’s first playoff touchdown football is speaking out about the experience.
Jesse Eggers is a lifelong Chiefs fan from the Northland. He’s watched every game since he can remember and always jumps at the chance to attend home games at Arrowhead.
“Being a kid, you always dream about it, and the moment comes, and you’re just nervous you’re going to drop the ball and beat yourself up about it forever,” said Eggers describing the moment he caught the ball.
It was a battle to keep it, as Eggers said some men sitting behind him went for the ball too. They all went down, but only Eggers came up with it.
“And I’m thinking, ‘Man. How am I going to get out of here with this ball, honestly?’ That was my first thought,” he said.
Luckily, he was with a group of friends to keep it safe.
That ball is important for two reasons: 1) it helped the Chiefs defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars to advance to the AFC Championship, and 2) it marks a career milestone for Henne.
The mystery as to who had it came after Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce discussed the matter on his podcast “New Heights” with his brother Jason, an NFL player for the Philadelphia Eagles, earlier this week.
“I think it’s [Henne’s] first touchdown pass in the playoffs, and he’s been in the league since 2008, so I think that might be one he would want to hold onto. Obviously, wasn’t thinking that when I scored,” said Kelce during the podcast.
Neither brother thought the ball would ever resurface, but Travis Kelce put out a plea: If the fan who had the ball reached out to his podcast, he’d make sure they’d get something in exchange.
Eggers’ fiancée, Karly Riley, was alerted to that message after her friend saw the podcast excerpt on Twitter.
“I joked with him earlier that I feel like his PR lady because I was the one that originally started talking to the podcast,” she said.
With his identity revealed, the plan to exchange the ball was set in motion between Kelce’s team and Eggers. However, with a major game just days away, Kelce’s team didn’t want to disrupt his pre-game ritual. So, they’re waiting until after Sunday’s game to hammer out the details as to what’s included in the exchange.
“I’m happy that they’re wanting to wait because I do not want to be any kind of a reason why there’s any drama. I don’t want to be a distraction in any way,” Eggers added.
It comes as Eggers is about to celebrate another major life moment: his wedding. When FOX4 asked his fiancée how the two moments compare, she said, “It’s insane. I feel so happy for him because I know he’s such a huge football fan.”