PUEBLO – Khrissy Sais and her family are what you’d call Broncos fanatics.
Their closet–which would traditionally be full of coats and jackets–is packed with Broncos jerseys, shirts, and hats.
But now, she and her family will have to make room for a few more jerseys in that closet.
Sais and her extended family traded in blue and orange for black and silver this past weekend to support Kelsey Martinez, the first woman in history to join the Raiders coaching staff.
Martinez currently works as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, in Oakland.
“There aren’t even really words about how proud you can be,” Martinez’s mother, Khristin Fuentes said, with tears in her eyes.
Her daughter (a Pueblo native) returned home this past weekend, for the Broncos Raiders game at Mile High–securing tickets and VIP passes for family and friends.
Martinez admits in the past, she was a Broncos fan. But times have changed.
“I knew this question was going to come,” Martinez said, laughing, on Saturday.
“I am from Colorado, so I was a bit of a Broncos fan. But once I started working in Orlando, I actually became a ‘players’ fan because we work with a lot of players from around the league. I just would follow them. Once I came out here, obviously, I became a Raiders. And once you’re a Raider, you’re always a Raider,” she added.
Martinez says most of her family members are Broncos fans.
“They’re just super excited that I’m here, and that they get to experience it along with me. So they haven’t given me too much of a hard time. But they did ask whether they had to wear Raiders gear or not,” she told reporters on Saturday.
And almost all of them called an audible and went to the dark side for Sunday’s game, wearing Raiders gear to Mile High– the key word being “almost.”
“My husband wore his Broncos jersey on Sunday,” Sais said, laughing. “He said he’d never live it down if he wore a Raiders jersey to the game.”
“It was a little hard to cheer for the Broncos, being that my daughter is on the other side,” said Fuentes, who was decked out in Raiders attire on Sunday. “I’ve been asked previously is I’m a Bronco or Raider fan, and it’s been that I’m a fan of my daughter.”
The experience was an unforgettable one for Martinez’s family.
“I was kind of amazed–kind of took my breath away a little bit–because I got to see her on the field like that,” Sais recalled.
Sure, they would have liked to see th 26-year-old come away with a win–but they got to witness something bigger than that.
“We were approached by one of the other coaches that works for the Raiders and he was like, ‘I’m so excited because I have two daughters and she’s their role model. And they actually have someone in the NFL to look up to,” Sais told News5.
She said watching her sister sign autographs after the game was surreal.
“They were calling her out by name! My stepson was so funny, because he said ‘to me, she’s just Auntie Kelsey. But to everyone else, she’s famous!'”
“I’m just trying to do the best at my job,” Martinez told News5.
“I just always tell them, ‘if it’s something that you want to do, then you can do it. You just have to really want it,'”
As for her sister’s family–the Broncos jerseys will reappear in their household, come Sunday.
“We’re still rooting for both of them,” said Sais.
Her stepson’s room will remain covered in Von Miller fanfare–on the walls, shelves and dresser.
But Miller will have to share the spotlight with another big name in football, inside that bedroom.
“He got her autograph on here,” Sais said, grinning, while pointing at Martinez’s autograph on her stepson’s mini Raiders helmet.
“He’s so excited.”
