KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City Chiefs fans are searching for footage of a once-in-a-lifetime moment with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
An 11-year-old got a birthday gift from the Chiefs QB after the Wild Card game Saturday.
Hadley Moats was brought to tears when she found out her parents were taking their family to the Chiefs playoff game versus the Miami Dolphins for her birthday. Freezing temps dropped ticket prices and made it possible.
The family said the 5 and 1/2-hour drive and chilly weather was well worth it after Mahomes gave Hadley a birthday gift at the game.
Mahomes gave the 11-year-old fan his game sleeve for her birthday. The problem is that her dad didn’t hit the record button on his phone.
“I have one job, one job, and I completely mess it up,” Al Moats said.
Moats and his family saw Mahomes head straight for Hadley in the second row. She was holding a sign that read, “All I want for my 11th birthday is an autograph.”
“He comes running straight to Hadley, nobody else, and reaches up and says, ‘Hey this is for you, happy birthday,’ and takes off back into the locker room,” Moats said, “and all of us are in shock.”
Instead of an autograph, Mahomes gave Hadley his game sleeve. She was beyond excited.
“I was in shock,” Hadley said. “I thought he was going to give me an autograph or something, but I was very excited.”
“She immediately was just in tears. And I looked at her, she looked at me. We put our foreheads together,” mom Lindsey Moats said. “And you have an MVP football player that we watch every Sunday.”
It was a moment with the MVP that the Moats family will never forget.
Following the excitement, Al realized he was so cold, he didn’t hit record.
“My husband he thought he was recording,” Lindsey said, “and bless his heart, as soon as the moment was over, he looked down at his phone and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t record it!'”
“You can’t feel your thumbs, you can’t feel your thumbs during that time, it was that cold.”
Lindsey posted a call for help on social media. She said more than 2,000 people responded — but no luck so far. They said the game they recorded at home got cut short.
“Now we’re on the hunt for some sort of footage of that interaction because that was an amazing moment for us to share as a family,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey said Mahomes’ gift to her daughter is more than a sleeve. It’s also about football bringing family together. She said with or without pictures and video, they scored a memory of a lifetime.
“There’s not many options to spend time together anymore. We’re so busy. We’re working extra hours because we’re trying to survive and to be able to experience this as a family together,” Lindsey said.
“They’re going to tell their kids and grandkids this story one day, and I think that’s the beauty of football.”
Hadley loves flag football and her brother, Hunter, is a quarterback. Football runs deep in their family.
Hunter has been to three Chiefs games and said he’s a little sad his sister scored a keepsake before him, but overall, the 15-year-old called it a win.
“I’m extremely happy for her,” Hunter said.
“It means a lot to me,” Hadley said, “and I was really excited when it happened because I love Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.”
Hadley plans to frame the sleeve that Mahomes wore during the coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium and the fourth-coldest game in NFL history.
The family was sitting in section 121. If you have a video or pictures of this moment, email Regan.Porter@fox4kc.com.
