How Bills receiver Isaiah McKenzie delivered NFL's viral gender reveal for his best friend

Buffalo Bills receiver Isaiah McKenzie caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Allen, and he was ready to celebrate. He threw the football up in the air, then screamed into the crowd.

He even wanted to break out into a dance, but stopped himself. He remembered he had a promise to keep to his best friend. He turned around and found the closest camera next to him.

“It’s a boy!” McKenzie screamed into the camera. “It’s a boy!”

Back home in Miami, Nani Rivero, her boyfriend, Willy Dawkins, and their family and friends were in McKenzie’s restaurant, La Traila Barbecue, watching the game and starting a celebration of their own.

NFL NEWSLETTER: Sign up now for exclusive content sent to your inbox

NFL's OPENING WEEK: The best and worst debuts from Week 1

IT'S OVER: Dak Prescott's injury is final straw for Cowboys' playoff hopes. Yes, already.

Their moments were captured in a video by the Bills’ social media team that quickly went viral after the game.

Rivero could only sum up her reaction in a few words.

“Super emotional,” Rivero told USA TODAY Sports this week.

“We actually had no idea how Isaiah was going to do it.”

‘This whole surprise isn’t working’

Leading up to the Bills’ season-opening win over the Los Angeles Rams, Rivero was nervous.

McKenzie wanted to take care of the gender reveal and the baby shower. Rivero and McKenzie grew up together. He would watch her play softball, like she still watches him play football. They think of each other like brother and sister. They were recently roommates, too.

But Rivero had her reservations about giving him control.

“I was like, ‘Ehhh, you’re a boy. I don’t know if I trust you with that,’” Rivero said lightheartedly. “He was like, ‘No, no, no, I have a great plan.”

When Rivero called McKenzie before the game Thursday morning, he didn’t answer. She grew anxious. Her friends and family wanted to know how he was going to deliver his promise, so they knew when to capture the moment themselves.

What was McKenzie going to do? When was he going to do it?

McKenzie touched base with Rivero eventually.

“I'm like, ‘Okay, I just need to know. Give me a hint.’ I'm like, ‘This whole surprise isn't working,’” Rivero said.

“And he was like, ‘Exactly. I'm keeping it a surprise.’”

It almost didn't happen

In the first half, McKenzie caught a pass, and he mishandled another for an Rams interception. But there was no indication of any gender reveal.

There was also one small problem.

“I was supposed to write it’s a boy on my shirt, and then lift my shirt up if I score,” McKenzie told USA TODAY Sports. “But I forgot to write on my shirt at the beginning of the game.”

After halftime passed with more uneasiness, the Bills reached the 7-yard line midway through the third quarter.

“Honestly, I get more hyped about the actual game,” Rivero said. “Right when ... they were like at the goal line, and I saw him in rotation. I was like, ‘Okay, here it goes.’”

“I was hoping I was getting the football, but it looked too good to be true,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie slowly ran forward into his option route in front of two Rams defenders, and then broke inside. Allen delivered a fastball right into McKenzie’s chest.

“When I scored, the first time the camera got in my face, I kinda blanked out doing my own thing celebrating,” McKenzie said. “The second time I saw the camera, I remembered.”

“It got really quiet in the restaurant,” Rivero said. “And then once we heard like the little subtle, it’s a boy. That second one, everyone just went crazy.

“But honestly, it's like he was speaking to everyone at the restaurant. So, it was like a perfect, intimate type of thing.”

Rivero’s family and friends celebrated privately in the restaurant that night. Her sister already has two daughters, and she’s happy to welcome a new baby boy into the family. A night of intrigue led to a heartwarming moment. And the Bills dominated the defending Super Bowl champions 31-10.

It wasn’t so dumb, after all

On the plane ride home from Los Angeles, McKenzie’s Bills teammates peppered him with questions and some criticism. He has a reputation for being a jokester, and they love messing with him, too.

What was he screaming? Is he having a baby? Is your friend even awake back home to see it?

Some of them even thought it was a dumb idea for a gender reveal — until they saw the viral video.

“Everyone was like, that’s the dumbest thing ever,” McKenzie said with a laugh during his podcast, "Isaiah McKenzie Show."

More than upstaging his teammates, McKenzie is happy his best friend and her son will have this moment for the rest of their lives.

“It’s awesome. We grew up together, been around each other almost our whole life. Me doing that, I was way more happy for her than for me when I scored the touchdown,” McKenzie said.

“It’s pretty cool that I did it on that stage and how I did it. But it’s pretty cool for her to have that memorable moment. When the child is born, they’ll have that memorable moment as well.”

As for Rivero, she’s happy the intrigue is over. Not knowing how the reveal was going to happen was bad enough. Imagine if McKenzie didn’t score.

“I GUESS WE WILL NEVER KNOW,” McKenzie said on his Twitter account, although Buffalo’s next game against the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football was the backup plan.

The gender reveal has only strengthened their lifelong bond, and Rivero can’t wait to see Uncle Isaiah coach her son one day.

“He likes to genuinely see the happiness on other people,” she said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Bills WR Isaiah McKenzie delivered NFL's viral gender reveal