LODI, Ohio — We've heard a lot about Travis Kelce, the Cleveland Heights native and standout for the Kansas City Chiefs. And, oh yeah, Taylor Swift's boyfriend. But there's another Northeast Ohioan playing in the Super Bowl this weekend.
Kyle Juszczyk is from Medina County. The eight-time pro-bowler is about to play in his second Super Bowl. Back at his alma mater, Cloverleaf Schools, the football fieldhouse holds many memories of Juszczyk as one of the greats.
"He was a ball boy coming up through Cloverleaf, played youth football here, played middle school football, so football has kind of always been in his blood," said Justin Vorhies, Varsity Head Football Coach at Cloverleaf High School.
Juszczyk, who wore number 2, whose jersey is now retired, led his team to its first-ever state football playoffs.
"Very humble, very hardworking, very determined, carried himself with a lot of confidence," said Vorhies.
"There were several games where you know either he threw the game-winning touchdown pass or had the game-winning touchdown run, caught touchdowns, he did it all," said Vorhies.
But, these highlights and awards only tell part of Kyle's story, "As good of a football player as he is, he might be a better human being," said Cloverleaf Football Coach Jim Humiston.
"Last year, when we won our conference championship, he sent our team a video which was really cool for the kids to watch. It was just between him and them," said Vorhies.
Kyle makes it easy for his former coaches to cheer on a team other than the Cleveland Browns.
"I've got a 49ers hat," said Humiston.
"My house we're big time Browns fans there's no doubt about it and then our second team is the 49ers. I took my son up to watch them play at Cleveland this year. We had some Browns gear, we had some Juszczyk gear. We were just excited to be there to see both the Browns and Kyle. I watch the games differently, I know other people do too, we watch it just for him instead of watching the whole team play. You have a sense of pride like that," said Vorhies.
On Friday at school, all Cloverleaf students are going to rep Juszczyk shirts to get excited for the Super Bowl.
"There's just a good buzz going in the communities and this surrounding area so a lot of excitement for Kyle and his success," said Humiston.
Just recently, the world got to see a bit of that humility Kyle's coaches remember so well. Juszczyk is making headlines for cheering on his wife Kristin, who rose to fame creating custom NFL jackets for the likes of Taylor Swift, Brittany Mahomes, and Simone Biles.
"It's been so cool to see her get the recognition for something that she is truly so talented at," said Juszczyk in an interview with NFL Network.
Back at Cloverleaf, Juszczyk is pictured in the hall of fame, inside classrooms, and more, a reminder that any graduate has endless potential.
"For him, it means a lot representing Northeast Ohio, representing Medina County, Cloverleaf. He's always done that well," said Vorhies.
"Hopefully, he can get a ring!" said Humiston
