Kansas City Chiefs fullback Carson Steel was gifted a baby alligator from his dad for Christmas in 2011. Named Crocky-J, the now 5-foot-long, 90-100 pound gator has been happily living with Steel’s family for 13 years – And even has his own room! But for most fans of the NFL and the Chiefs (and any classmate or neighborhood kid who wasn’t blown away visiting his house in the 2010s) – This is new and hard-to-believe info, leading it to go viral as the new NFL season kicks off.
The 21-year-old rookie says his favorite nickname given by his teammates is “Crocodile,” due to having a pet alligator (we’ll get to that discrepancy in a sec). Steel told KCTV5, “I got him second or third grade probably as a Christmas present. So I’ve had him a little while now. He’s in a big aquarium back home.”
I was asking my dad about a turtle or a lizard. We were at my grandma’s house and I opened the box and it was in a burlap sack. It started wiggling around. I opened it up and boom, a half-a-foot alligator shot down the hallway. Grandma about fell over. We’ve grown up together. He’s all heated up in a big tank in the room next to mine [in Indiana].
Carson Steele, LA Times, April 2023
And yes he always knew Crocky-J wasn’t a crocodile, he just thought it was a cool name at the time. His homestead near Indianapolis doubled as a farm growing up, with pets including a Bernese Mountain dog, cats, rabbits, horses, chickens, ferrets, fish, and a bearded dragon.
I’ve heard enough.
— stop.drop.rewind (@stopdroprewind) September 6, 2024
Make Crocky-J the new mascot for the Kansas City football team this instant.
For more on Chiefs content: Super Bowl LVII – Meet the dogs of the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
