LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Rakeem Nunez-Roches will take the field with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV next weekend having grown some of his football roots in Hardin County, Kentucky.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 307-pound nose tackle is known on the gridiron as the "Belizean Beast." Loved ones say Nunez-Roches was always built for football.
"When the coaches saw him, he was so huge they didn't believe he was 5," said Eleanor Guerrero, Nunez-Roches' grandmother. "His mother had to go back home and get his birth paper and see that he was 5 years old."
Guerrero and Nunez-Roches' aunt, Nadine Johnson, said he lived in Hardin County for about six years between elementary, middle and early high school. The military family remembers well his early playing days with the Radcliff Broncos.
"Oh my goodness, I was always there," Guerrero said. "Running up and down making noise, I would say, 'Come on my grandson! Come on my baby! You can make it!'"
And make it he did, playing college ball at the University of Southern Mississippi before entering the NFL as a defensive lineman.
"This has been his dream, to make it in the football world," Johnson said. "And he has made history for himself and for his family and his country, and everyone is so proud that he has accomplished what he has set out for."
Rakeem Nunez-Roches
Nunez-Roches will be the first Belizean-born athlete to ever play in the Super Bowl. Midway through the season he was bumped up to a starting role for the Buccaneers, filling a major hole left in their defense with the injury of Vita Vea.
"My role is bigger, and I have an opportunity," Nunez-Roches said in an October interview. "Don't count the plays. Make the plays count."
And in an added twist to the story, he will take on his former team. After being drafted in 2015, he played his first three seasons in league with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Nunez-Roches is known for his boisterous, over-the-top personality.
"I mean, he's the best trash-talker we got on defense right now," a Tampa Bay coach said of Nunez-Roches.
And it turns out that comes from home.
Rakeem Nunez-Roches and his family
"He gets it from the family," Johnson said.
Loved ones will pack their cheers and joy and head to Tampa Bay next week.
"It's my joy," Nunez-Roches said. "I take pride in what I do."
Nunez-Roches is in his sixth NFL season. Teammates and coaches jokingly refer to him as nacho...his favorite food.
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