Mar 1, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Utah State wideout Jalen Royals (WO38) during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Royals Embraces His Last Name in Kansas City Sports Scene

Originally posted on Kansas City Chiefs on SI
By Zak Gilbert | Last updated Aug 4, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The two top-selling Chiefs jerseys are No. 15 Patrick Mahomes and No. 87 Travis Kelce. But Jalen Royals is ascending that list as fast as he is on the team’s depth chart.

Sharing a name with the big-league baseball team next to Arrowhead Stadium, Royals gets a daily Let’s go Royals cheer from fans as he enters the practice field.

“I'm from Atlanta, so I'm still a Braves fan at the end of the day,” the rookie admitted, “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.”

15 and 85 were taken

What would’ve been great is Royals wearing No. 85 for his NFL debut, reminding fans of the first World Series title in Kansas City Royals history, 1985. Tight end Robert Tonyan, however, already claimed that number – and Mahomes will go into the Hall of Fame wearing 15 (the Royals also won the World Series in 2015). So, Royals will kick off his pro career in No. 11.

Mahomes owns a portion of the Royals, so at least his rookie wide receiver won’t ever have an issue with admission to future baseball games. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Sunday that the fourth-round selection from Utah State is earning a different type of admission from Mahomes, trust.

“Yeah, he's doing a nice job, too,” Reid said of his rookie receiver. “He's catching the football well, strong. Looks like the quarterbacks trust him. That's a big part of it. As you watch, you just see where the quarterbacks are going to, and there's a certain trust that they're developing here in that kid. So, that kind of speaks for itself.”

Transition to NFL speed

Mahomes speaks to Royals after every target, the rookie said. And when they’re off the practice field, the quarterback speaks to him in meetings. And as Royals acclimates to the speed of the NFL game, he’s focused on not repeating mistakes.

“Decisions, defenses are a lot different than college, and just getting up to speed with that, is probably the biggest transition,” Royals said, comparing the NFL to his college experience.

Royals has capitalized on additional practice snaps while Skyy Moore (hamstring) and Hollywood Brown (ankle) have missed time. Expect to see the rookie catching a lot of passes in preseason games, beginning Saturday at Arizona (7 p.m. CT, KSHB 41, 96.5 The Fan).

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This article first appeared on Kansas City Chiefs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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