This Kansas City Chiefs rookie scored his 1st NFL TD. A locker-room phone call was next

Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco propped his phone on a pile of towels in the locker room, readjusting the screen so his old buddies could see his face.

Former Rutgers teammates like Tyreem Powell had just gotten out of practice. Still, they figured they had to try to Facetime their old friend after he had 12 carries for 62 rushing yards — and a touchdown — in his NFL debut during Sunday’s 44-21 Chiefs win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Pacheco did more than pick up the call. He answered and then celebrated with his pals — right then and there — while letting raw emotion come through.

He hovered over the phone, pounding his chest and roaring as they shouted back at him. “You feel me? You feel me?” he barked, smiling as teammates JuJu Smith-Schuster and Jody Fortson popped into the background of his screen to dance alongside him.

“Dreams come true,” Pacheco said a few minutes later, in front of his locker at State Farm Stadium. “Just blessed. Couldn’t do it without God and my family — and most definitely, foremost, the offensive line.”

Those maulers helped clear the way for Pacheco’s signature moment with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes handed it off to Pacheco on the 3-yard line, and he remained patient as Fortson helped with a kick-out block that opened up a crease.

Pacheco stayed on his feet to cross the goal line, tossing the ball in jubilation somewhere between the ground and wall behind the end zone. It amounted to what appeared to be a half-spike.

“I’ve gotta get my celebrations together,” Pacheco said later with a laugh. “But first thing that was going through my head was to find a big guy to celebrate with. Definitely get that ball.”

Mahomes helped him with the last part, retrieving the memento for Pacheco’s first regular-season score.

After getting two carries in the first 45 minutes of Sunday’s game, Pacheco made the most of his opportunities late. He had 10 rushes for 60 yards in the final quarter and finished as the Chiefs’ leading rusher with his 62 yards.

Teammate and fellow rookie Skyy Moore said the touchdown had some foreshadowing. The two were roommates at the team hotel, and they chatted earlier in the morning about how one — or both of them — had to get into the end zone Sunday.

“Just excited, super-happy for him,” Moore said.

As were some current residents of Piscataway, New Jersey.

Pacheco, drafted by the Chiefs in the seventh round of April’s draft, thinks often about how he was in his college teammates’ place not long ago. He’s tried to bring some inspiration to them since then by making the most of his NFL shot.

In turn, they’ve also shown him something, with Rutgers starting this college season 2-0.

“I’ll definitely tell them to keep leading,” Pacheco said of his old teammates. “And I’m gonna keep doing whatever I’ve got to do here to make them guys happy back down there.”

He accomplished that goal Sunday, to the point that his old buddies felt they had to reach out a few minutes after the game.

Pacheco, in turn, decided to bring them along for the postgame revelry.

“They were turnt up on the phone. They were yelling and everything, screaming,” Pacheco said. “For me, I’m a humble guy. So I’m like, ‘Thank you, guys.’ I’m already ready for next week.”