All About Isiah Pacheco’s Parents, Julio Pacheco and Felicia Cannon

Isiah Pacheco is going to the 2024 Super Bowl with the support of his parents.

The Kansas City Chiefs running back is set to play on football’s biggest stage on Feb. 11, with his parents, Julio Pacheco and Felicia Cannon, cheering him on. However, before becoming a professional athlete, Isiah was born in 1999 as the youngest of five children who grew up in Vineland, New Jersey.

After playing football in high school, Isiah decided to stay in-state, near his parents, and be a student-athlete at Rutgers. Although he had a promising career in school, he was only selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft. When he finally found out that the Chiefs selected him, he was shocked.

“It all hit me,” Isiah said Forbes. “I had to take a break from packing my bags and really soak it all in.” The next thing he did was call his parents. Not long after that day, he played in the 2023 Super Bowl against the team his family once supported, the Philadelphia Eagles. For the second year in a row, in 2024, Isiah’s team will compete in the Super Bowl.

Everything you need to know about the 2024 Super Bowl

While the runner found success on the field, the Pacheco family suffered several personal tragedies, including the deaths of Isiah’s two siblings, Travoise and Celeste. The footballer and his parents leaned on each other through everything and focused on his career as a new purpose.

Here’s everything you need to know about Isiah Pacheco’s parents, Julio Pacheco and Felicia Cannon.

They raised Isiah in New Jersey

Isiah Pacheco and his parents Julio Pacheco and Felicia Cannon on a private jet.

Isiah Pacheco Instagram

Julio and Felicia raised Isiah about half an hour outside of Philadelphia in Vineland, New Jersey, where they were often seen cheering on their son during his high school football games.

While Felicia and Julio have since stayed out of the limelight, Isiah has spoken about how his mom takes pride in cooking for her family. When it comes to his sister sa Atlantic City Press In 2017, he said, “She could cook, but she couldn’t cook as well as my mom.”

Isiah is the youngest sibling

Isiah Pacheco.

Isiah Pacheco Instagram

Isiah is the youngest in Felicia’s family, which includes four older children, Ricky, Felicia, Travoise and Celeste. Growing up, Felicia said, it didn’t matter that Isiah was the youngest on the team. He was always in charge.

Said the mother of five children Atlantic City Press that Isiah was a big fan of his older siblings’ toys, often stealing them for himself. “We had to tell him you just can’t take other kids’ toys,” she said. Felicia added that his older siblings were afraid of Isiah on the playground and that she was amazed that her youngest son had such strong leadership skills and athletic ability from a young age.

According to his former coaches, how he was raised shone through in his performance on the football field. “He’s just a great representative of his family,” Nunzio Campanile, Isiah’s former running backs coach told USA Today in 2024, “because he’s a really good person.” His other high school football coach, Dan Russo, said he was always close to his parents.

The family lived through multiple tragedies

Isiah Pacheco #10 of the Kansas City Chiefs takes the field before the AFC Championship game against the Baltimore Ravens on January 28, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Patrick Smith/Getty

Isiah’s two siblings, Travoise and Celeste, were killed in 2016 and 2017, respectively, while he was in high school.

Travoise was killed in a stabbing, the event that fueled Isiah’s drive on the football field. “My brother, if he saw me here, he would be shocked,” the running back told NJ.com in 2019. “He encouraged me to play football as a kid and he never got a chance to see me play. ”

Just a year later, Isiah lost the sibling he was closest to, Celeste. He was with his mother when they learned that Celeste had been killed by her partner, Donald Scurry Jr.

On the day of Celeste’s funeral, Isiah also played a high school football game. “I knew she looked down on me and took my game to a higher level because I had something to play for. That was my reason,” Isiah told the Big Ten Network in 2021. “I wanted to make her laugh so I left it all on the field and she would have been proud of me that day.”

“I couldn’t believe he had so much courage… It made me so proud of him. He’s my world,” Felicia added.

After the tragic deaths of Travoise and Celeste, Julio noticed a change in his son, including him becoming more introverted. “He thinks a lot more,” Julio said Atlantic City Press.

However, the loss of his siblings gave Isiah a new purpose on the football field and a closer bond with his parents.

“Why am I leaving all that out on the field? You never know when your last chance will be or [for me] last time I saw a sibling,” Isiah told the Big Ten Network.

He added to NJ.com, “Having the opportunity to play ball helps me a lot to not worry about the tragedies that have happened. It makes me want to go harder.”

Felicia and Isiah have a close relationship

Isiah Pacheco #10 of the Kansas City Chiefs speaks to the media during the opening game of Super Bowl LVIII on February 5, 2024 in Las Vegas, NV.

Perry Knotts/Getty

Since Celeste’s death, Felicia said Isiah has been constantly checking on her and Celeste’s son, Donald Scurry III. While he still lived at home and grief kept them awake, the mother and son duo watched football highlights late into the night. “He warms my heart,” Felicia said Atlantic City Press.

They also stood up for young Donald. They took him to his first soccer game and he was thrilled, says Felicia. “He really doesn’t have parents,” Isiah added. “His father is in prison. I have to be with him, introduce him to sports.”

Isiah wears a necklace in honor of his mother

Isiah Pacheco speaks to reporters during the NFL Draft Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on March 3, 2022.

Michael Hickey/Getty

In March 2022, Isiah revealed that his name necklace that says Jody is in honor of his mom.

“That’s my mom’s nickname. Her real name is Felicia, but we call her Jody. She’s my heart… My mom is everything to me,” he said in the 2022 NFL video. “In times like these, being a baby and being on a stage like this is something big for our family.

The soccer player also said that he likes to always carry a reminder of his mother with him. “From being the only child in my family to play football to preparing to graduate from college in the spring, I am blessed to be able to represent my mother,” he added.

They support Isiah’s football career

Isiah Pacheco takes a moment on the field before the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos on October 29, 2023 in Denver, Colorado.

Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire/Getty

Ever since he was young, Julio and Felicia played a big role in Isiah’s football aspirations.

“We knew he was fast so I said let’s do it,” Julio told the Big Ten Network. “He started playing when he was 8 years old.” Playing pee for one of the biggest teams in the NFL, Julio and Felicia try to attend as many of Isiah’s games as possible.

At one college football game, after scoring a touchdown, Isiah told NJ.com he thought about supporting his family on the field. “I looked up and saw my mom and I blew her two kisses,” he said. “My dad asked after the game: ‘Who did you blow kisses to?’ And my mom said: ‘He was sending me kisses!’ And I said, ‘That’s crazy, Mom, because I really was.’ She’s been through so much. I told her that touchdown was for her.”

Julio added that supporting Isiah’s aspirations brings so much joy and healing. “When he scored that touchdown, his mom and I looked at each other and hugged. I knew those kisses were for her because of everything she’s been through,” he said. “But that’s Isiah. He is a strong child. He’s a kid who’s been through a lot… He doesn’t show it. He tries to keep our family happy.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education