Kevin Ortiz’s suitcase has been packed — or rather, bursting at the seams — since September.
He shows it proudly, overflowing on the floor of his Bakersfield, Calif., home, in between another weekend on the road. Ortiz knows this suitcase — consistently over the airline-mandated 50-pound limit with “overweight” and “fragile” stickers stuck to its exterior — won’t last him much longer. So, it’s a good thing he only has one stop left.
Ortiz, 35, embarked on a journey this season to attend a home game for every NFL team. Yes, that meant two stops to MetLife Stadium (for the New York Jets and New York Giants) and two to SoFi Stadium (for the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams). He would have felt like he was cheating otherwise.
He’ll join an exclusive club of fans who have done this before. But Ortiz is also paving a path of his own. He never attended an NFL game before this season. He’s traveling to each game completely alone. And he’s doing it all in his wheelchair — a journey he hopes will raise awareness of the accessibility challenges of attending NFL games.
“The idea was a spur-of-the-moment type of thing. I honestly just wanted to do something challenging,” Ortiz said in an interview before his final stretch of regular-season games in Week 17. “I wanted to do something where I would want to quit every step of the way. Something that I felt like I knew I could do, but at the same time, everybody would feel like it was impossible.”
Kevin Ortiz saw the Raiders lose to the Chargers in Week 2 and the Dolphins fall to the Ravens in Week 9. (Courtesy of Kevin Ortiz)
Ortiz has been using a wheelchair for 13 years. In 2012, he was an active member of the Air Force and battling depression. On Sept. 27 of that year, Ortiz attempted suicide. He survived, but two of his thoracic vertebrae were shattered. He was paralyzed from the belly button down.
He continued to struggle with depression after the incident, a two-year stretch that he said “felt like a lifetime.” Everything felt unattainable as he adjusted to this new way of living. How would he gain back his independence? Own a house? Travel?
His mind spiraled with negative thoughts until an interaction with his sister prompted a change of mindset.
“My sister gave me this weird look one day, and I could just tell she could not wait to get away from being around me,” Ortiz said. “Me and my sister, we’re very close. … Once I saw that, I was like, you know what? I had to realize at that time I was the problem, and I really had to make a change.”
From then on, Ortiz said, “everything just got better.” He moved to California from Temple, Ga., where he had lived since he was 13, and expanded his social circle. He started a YouTube channel and began sharing his life online.
“A lot of people don’t (talk about) their struggles with mental health,” Ortiz said. “Once they see a video of somebody that went through something as traumatic as that — not only having a spinal cord injury, but to be the one that caused the spinal cord injury — and then still be out here, living his life with a smile on his face, I think that says a lot.”
Known by the username @wheelchairkev online, Ortiz has about 114,000 YouTube subscribers and 352,000 followers on Instagram. Over the summer, he wanted to do something new with his content that would get him out of the house — and the stadium tour was born. Ortiz makes content full-time and funded his stadium tour almost entirely from the money he makes on social media.
Steph Aiello, Ortiz’s friend, remembers when Ortiz first mentioned the idea. They were talking about their bucket lists, and Aiello, a longtime NFL and Chargers fan, mentioned she’d like to visit every NFL stadium in her lifetime. That’s when Ortiz said he was thinking about doing it in one season.
“I thought he was crazy,” Aiello said, but she also wasn’t surprised. She knows her friend “doesn’t do things small.”
“He is definitely a go-getter in a way that’s inspiring, which is hard for us to say in the community because a lot of us don’t like the word inspiring,” said Aiello, who also uses a wheelchair. “We’re just living our daily life. But for someone to do something so challenging against what society puts us in a box for what we’re capable of doing, and to challenge himself in that way, I just thought it was very courageous.”
Ironically, Ortiz said the most challenging part about adjusting to life in a wheelchair after his injury was the very thing he signed up for this season: travel. It’s more mentally demanding than physically, Ortiz said, with extra steps like calling to confirm his hotel room has a roll-in shower, calling restaurants to reserve accessible tables, showing up to the airport early to board and stow his chair with the airline, hoping it doesn’t break in transit (which has happened three times).
Aiello wanted to help Ortiz in any way she could, so she took the task of making his schedule. It was a puzzle to plan 32 trips over four months. The most crucial factor Aiello considered was weather; she prioritized colder-climate games toward the beginning of the season, hoping to ease the burden of an already demanding travel calendar.
The busiest agenda was a four-game stretch in Week 3 that included “Thursday Night Football” in Buffalo, a Sunday 1 p.m. game in Philadelphia, a quick trip to “Sunday Night Football” at MetLife, and a “Monday Night Football” finale in Baltimore. Ortiz saw three games in one week four times over his tour.
Kevin Ortiz’s stadium tour
WeekGameStadium
1
Colts 33, Dolphins 8
Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
Vikings 27, Bears 24 (MNF)
Solider Field (Chicago)
2
Chargers 10, Raiders 9
Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
3
Bills 31, Dolphins 21 (TNF)
Highmark Stadium (Buffalo)
Eagles 33, Rams 26
Lincoln Financial (Philadelphia)
Chiefs 22, Giants 9 (SNF)
MetLife Stadium (New York)
Lions 38, Ravens 30 (MNF)
M&T Bank (Baltimore)
4
Rams 27, Colts 20
SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles)
5
Panthers 27, Dolphins 24
Bank of America Stadium (Carolina)
Jaguars 31, Chiefs 28 (MNF)
EverBank Field (Jacksonville)
6
OFF
7
49ers 20, Falcons 10 (SNF)
Levi’s Stadium (San Francisco)
Seahawks 27, Texans 19 (MNF)
Lumen Field (Seattle)
8
Chargers 37, Vikings 10 (TNF)
SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles)
Broncos 44, Cowboys 24
Empower Field at Mile High (Denver)
Chiefs 28, Commanders 7 (MNF)
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City)
9
Ravens 28, Dolphins 6 (TNF)
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami)
Broncos 18, Texans 15
NRG Stadium (Houston)
Cardinals 27, Cowboys 17 (MNF)
AT&T Stadium (Dallas)
10
Ravens 27, Vikings 19
U.S. Bank Stadium (Minnesota)
Eagles 10, Packers 7 (MNF)
Lambeau Field (Green Bay)
11
OFF
12
Patriots 26, Bengals 20
Paycor Stadium (Cincinnati)
13
Jets 27, Falcons 24
MetLife Stadium (New York)
Patriots 33, Giants 15 (MNF)
Gillette Stadium (New England)
14
Lions 44, Cowboys 30 (TNF)
Ford Field (Detroit)
Titans 31, Browns 29
Huntington Bank Field (Cleveland)
15
Falcons 29, Buccaneers 28 (TNF)
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa Bay)
Saints 20, Panthers 17
Caesers Superdome (New Orleans)
Steelers 28, Dolphins 15 (MNF)
Acrisure Stadium (Pittsburgh)
16
Falcons 26, Cardinals 19
State Farm Stadium (Arizona)
17
Cowboys 30, Commanders 23 (Christmas Day)
Northwest Stadium (Washington, D.C.)
Saints 34, Titans 26
Nissan Stadium (Tennessee)
Falcons 27, Rams 24 (MNF)
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
Oritz’s schedule was busy, but it also left room for two bye weeks and last-minute adjustments. He swapped a visit to the Washington Commanders from the beginning to the end of his schedule after airfare for the earlier date was more than $1,300. There were travel hiccups, of course, and flight delays from Indianapolis to Chicago as early as Week 1 had him questioning his journey.
“Once I got to Chicago, I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I could do this, but I told everybody I could,’ ” Ortiz said. “What’s crazy is once I put it out there, everybody said, ‘You can do it.’
“I just felt like I couldn’t stop, and it was for a bigger purpose too.”
Ortiz saw the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins five times each. The Falcons went 3-2 while the Dolphins were 0-5 in games with Ortiz in attendance. He saw one of his favorite players, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, three times. And he was fairly neutral when it came to home-field advantage, with the host team going 17-15 during Ortiz’s tour.
The stadium Ortiz enjoyed the most was Lambeau Field. He couldn’t avoid a cold-weather trip to Green Bay, visiting for a Week 10 game against the Philadelphia Eagles with 33-degree temperatures at the 7:16 p.m. (CT) kickoff.
“It was just something about Lambeau Field,” Ortiz said. “It’s the aura of the stadium. The fans were really amazing.”
Kevin Ortiz attended a Monday night Ravens game against the Lions in Week 3 and a Week 12 Bengals game against the Patriots. (Courtesy of Kevin Ortiz)
Ortiz met up with people along the way, whether they followed his journey online or were trying a similar challenge themselves. Gardy Banks, known online as @dudelovesfoodatl, was on a mission to try food at all 30 stadiums in 2025. He first met up with Ortiz at the Houston Texans’ NRG Stadium in Week 8, where they bonded over their shared experiences as Air Force veterans and their stadium tours.
“Logistically, this is way harder for him, not just because he’s in a wheelchair, but because he’s on the West Coast and every time he goes east, he’s losing tons of time,” said Banks, who is scheduling his tour around his full-time job as a copywriter.
“A lot of people think it’s all fun, but it’s actually super exhausting, especially for him. … It takes some testicular fortitude,” he said with a laugh.
That Houston trip was memorable, particularly because the stadium served up Banks’ favorite dish yet: boudin-stuffed chicken wings.
“Both of our eyes just lit up like kids in a candy store,” Banks said of trying the wings with Ortiz.
Banks hopes to shine a light on the chefs behind stadium dishes on his journey. He’s tried it on all his trips, including Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs special (pizza on a burger with a side of Sour Patch Kids, inspired by the running back’s “simple palette”) and Xavier Legette’s “The Bandit” in Carolina (a brisket BBQ sandwich on a white and black bun, because the receiver is known to eat raccoon). He even stashed an empanada in his pocket to give to Ortiz during a trip to MetLife.
As Banks bridges the gap between food, culture, and football, Ortiz is focusing his journey on raising awareness of stadium accessibility. Along the way, when the travel would catch up to him, Aiello would remind Ortiz of this bigger goal.
“It’s not just about the football games. It’s about the accessibility of the stadiums,” Aiello said. “I told him, if you’re going to do this, bring all the awareness that you can to the struggles of not only visiting stadiums but the hardship that our bodies take for travel.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that at least 1 percent of stadium seating be wheelchair-accessible. ADA guidelines require stadiums to exchange purchased tickets for accessible seating, if available.
Ortiz’s usual routine was to buy his ticket online and go to guest services as soon as the stadium opened to exchange it for an accessible seat. This worked fairly seamlessly, especially since Ortiz was only exchanging single seats, but he did run into a few hiccups.
When Ortiz arrived at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium in Week 7, he was told there were no accessible seats available for exchange. After some back-and-forth with stadium employees, which Ortiz recorded and posted online, he secured a seat, but he remembers it as one of the more frustrating experiences.
The 49ers have a notice online for their single-game ADA request process that states: “Due to limited inventory of accessible seating for 49ers football games, same-day ticket exchange for accessible seating is no longer available.”
The Arizona Cardinals’ State Farm Stadium also ran out of ADA relocations when Ortiz arrived, but he resolved the issue and found a single seat available. The Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, although ranked third on Ortiz’s list behind Lambeau and the Minnesota Vikings’ U.S. Bank Stadium, was challenging to navigate because its elevators were overcrowded and shared by all patrons.
“I did have a couple hiccups where it was a little rough, but so far every stadium has accommodated me with accessible seats,” Ortiz said. “That was the whole point.”
If Ortiz were to implement changes to stadium accessibility, he said he would create more wheelchair-accessible options and ensure those seats are clearly identifiable. In ideal situations, Ortiz said, stadiums have employees monitoring accessible seating sections who check tickets and prevent other fans from standing behind to get a better view or invading the space.
He’d also like to ensure that accessible seating isn’t resold. A common issue he saw was accessible seats re-listed online at high prices, adding another barrier to an already limited inventory of options for wheelchair users. This was the cause of frustration at Levi’s and State Farm Stadiums, Ortiz said, where will-call had no relocations available, yet accessible seats were available for resale online at staggering prices.
Ortiz attended Game 32 of 32 in Atlanta in Week 17, somewhat of a homecoming for him and a thrilling 27-24 victory for the Falcons over the Los Angeles Rams. However, it wasn’t his last stop.
At a Week 10 game between the Ravens and Vikings, Ortiz was invited onto the U.S. Bank field to be recognized during the “Salute to Service.” Afterward, Viktor the Viking snuck up behind him with two tickets to Super Bowl LX.
“The Super Bowl tickets were just really a blessing to solidify what I’m doing,” Ortiz said. “I am doing this for a reason (and) somebody really recognized me for the work that I was putting in.”
Added Aiello on the Super Bowl tickets: “That was something we talked about since the very beginning. And he didn’t think that was going to be truly something that could become a reality.”
Kevin Ortiz was gifted Super Bowl tickets when he visited Minnesota in Week 10. (Courtesy of Kevin Ortiz)
Ortiz doesn’t know exactly which section his Super Bowl tickets will be in, but he has been notified that the section is wheelchair-accessible at Levi’s Stadium. On his tour, Ortiz saw the Seattle Seahawks once and the New England Patriots twice, with both teams winning each time he was there.
One hundred fourteen days separated Ortiz’s first NFL game from the day he checked the final stadium off his list. The work it took to get here goes beyond the travel delays, ticket mishaps and lengthy lines he saw this season.
Ortiz never thought he would do anything like this 13 years ago. He knows how it feels to be at a low point, unsure how things will ever get better.
Through this journey, Ortiz put himself out there like he hasn’t before. He’s seen cities he declares are underrated (Cincinnati, Detroit and Houston). He’s faced the cold in Green Bay, bonded with the Bills mafia in Buffalo and explored the streets of New Orleans.
Ortiz said some of his followers have reached out to tell him they never attended a football game because they were scared or thought it would be too difficult, but now, because of him, they are going to their first game.
“What he’s bringing is so much light to the community and making them feel empowered to go out there and attend the game even if it takes a little bit longer to get your seat or to adjust your ticket or find an Uber,” Aiello said. “All these little things, he’s giving people the courage to at least try.”
And that’s the real motivation behind his stadium tour.
“After something as devastating as a spinal cord injury, you can still get out there and live your life, have fun and put a smile on your face,” Ortiz said. “That’s probably the biggest thing people notice when they see me, my smile. They’re like, ‘Whoa, if this guy’s in a wheelchair, and he’s smiling as big as he’s smiling …’
“‘If he can do it, I can do it.’ ”
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.