Adan Manzano

Adan Manzano Aguilar was a Mexican-born sports anchor and reporter whose energy and warmth made him a familiar face for Spanish-speaking football fans across the Kansas City area. Born in Mexico City on 23 December 1997, he moved to Topeka, Kansas, in 2018 to study at Kansas State University and quickly found a second home in American football, a sport he had not grown up with but came to love explaining to audiences who shared his bilingual world.

He began his professional path as a writer for Sky Sports Mexico and as a commentator with Reyes Media Group, calling Sporting Kansas City matches on radio, before joining Telemundo Kansas City (KGKC) as a sports anchor in 2021. Colleagues and his employer described him as a rising star who covered almost every local event with the same enthusiasm he brought to NFL sidelines. He joined the Chiefs television crew as a Spanish-language sideline reporter and covered the Super Bowl three times for Telemundo Kansas City and Tico Sports.

On 5 February 2025, while in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner on assignment for Super Bowl LIX, Manzano was found dead in his hotel room at the age of 27. Telemundo Kansas City called him a true professional whose passion for sports and contributions to the community would be deeply missed. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas remembered a young reporter full of energy who covered almost every event in the community. A memorial display appeared at a Sporting Kansas City media day, and friends and colleagues packed a funeral Mass later that month.

His death came less than a year after another family tragedy: his wife, Ashleigh Boyd, a Topeka teacher, died in a car crash in April 2024. The couple left behind a young daughter, Eleanor. In September 2026 a Louisiana jury convicted Danette Colbert and Rickey White of negligent homicide and racketeering in connection with Manzano's death, renewing national attention on a young journalist whose career had only just begun.

Manzano is remembered first as a broadcaster who bridged languages and communities, a colleague who loved the work, and a father whose brief career left a lasting mark on Kansas City sports media.