Jalen Royals Slept in His Car After JUCO—Now He’s Sleeping in a Chiefs Jersey

Before he wore red and gold, Jalen Royals lived in the dull gray of a parking lot.

After grueling JUCO practices, while teammates went home, Royals stayed behind. Not by choice—but because he had nowhere else to go. His car became his bed, his sanctuary, and his reminder: this wasn’t the end.

“It wasn’t sad to me,” Royals says. “It was fuel. If you can sleep in a car and wake up hungry, you can make it anywhere.”

He used his phone as an alarm and the dome light to study routes. He watched YouTube videos of NFL wideouts, memorized their footwork, and practiced under parking lot floodlights. Coaches noticed his growth. Teammates noticed his silence. No one knew he was homeless.

“I didn’t want sympathy. I wanted opportunity.”

That opportunity came at Utah State, where Royals broke out with over 1,200 receiving yards. But even then, the scouts doubted. They saw a JUCO kid with no pedigree. Royals saw a window—and kicked it open.

The Kansas City Chiefs called in the fourth round of the 2025 Draft. Royals smiled. Then he cried.

“I thought about the nights when my breath fogged up the windshield,” he said. “Now I’m sleeping in a jersey with my name on it.”

Royals brings more than speed to the Chiefs. He brings hunger that can’t be coached. He’s not playing for fame—he’s playing for the kid in the car who never gave up.

In a league full of five-star recruits and NIL deals, Jalen Royals is proof that the road less traveled sometimes leads to greatness.

Because when you’ve slept in your car chasing a dream, no defender can take it away from you.