Chiefs player from Orange County headed to the Super Bowl

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Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Nikko Remigio with mother Jennifer Remigio after the 2025 AFC Championship Game.

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - With Super Bowl Sunday in just a few days, the Kansas City Chiefs are sure to be getting some big love from Orange County. One of the OC's own, Nikko Remigio is on the team.

In a run seen 'round the football world, the 25-year-old wide receiver helped take the Chiefs to Super Bowl LIX with a 41-yard punt return against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship.

"I'm over the moon," said Mark Remigio. He calls it "a basic underdog story."

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Nikko is on special teams for the Chiefs. The road to the NFL hasn't been easy for him.

"Nikko's overcome a lot to get here, having to prove himself through injury," Mark Remigio said.

Nikko is from Orange County. He was a star receiver at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, part of a national championship winning team. But his football journey began in Tustin. 

"He was five years old," said mother Jennifer Remigio, "and his dad said, ‘We're gonna sign him up for flag football.'"

Nikko Remigio playing youth football in Torrance.

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When it came time for college, Remigio chose UC Berkeley. His father said Cal shaped him into the man that he is, and noted "their education is top-notch." Then, with an extra year of eligibility because of COVID, Nikko entered the transfer portal and moved to Fresno State, which won the Mountain West Conference that year.

"It actually gave him a little more exposure to get into the NFL," said Mark Remigio. "An agent came calling. {Chiefs quarterback] Patrick Mahomes' agent."

Seeing his son in the NFL, Mark Remigio says, is "surreal." Nikko went undrafted, but the Chiefs signed him in 2023. Sidelined by injuries, Nikko only just made the active roster in December. Then, came that star play and a trip to football's biggest game.

The Remigio Family in the Philippines.

Nikko's parents say he's playing for more than just himself. He's playing for his family, and has embraced his father's Filipino heritage. He has two younger brothers who also love sports, and is married to a track star on the Philippines national track team.

Super Bowl LIX airs on FOX 11 on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3:30 p.m. PT. The Chiefs will look for their third straight championship against the Philadelphia Eagles.