BROOMFIELD, Colo. — The Broncos were not the only ones taking a bow Monday night during their national appearance on “Monday Night Football.”
A Broomfield teenager was a standout of another sort. Kayla Hruby dazzled the huge audience with her equally huge vocals.
The 17-year-old is a student at Broomfield High School by day. And by night, she is a sought-after spectacular singer who has performed the national anthem hundreds of times.
But inside Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Monday night, she performed for her largest audience yet.
She knows a little about football.
“I’ve grown up around it and kind of get the rules,” Hruby said.
On Monday night, she took to the playing field — much like those gladiators on the gridiron. Her voice drew raucous cheers.
“The first couple of notes, I’m like shaking and I’m so nervous. But then after a while, like ‘Oh, yeah. I got this, I’m feeling this,’” she said.
For 90 seconds, Hruby’s rendition of the national anthem during a nationally televised football game scored a touchdown.
“When you are there and hit the high notes, people start cheering. It makes me feel better because I’ve been in venues where they didn’t cheer at all and it was silent. Oh, well. I don’t know if they like it,” Hruby said.
She started performing the national anthem when she was in seventh grade. She has been singing since she was a child.
“I hummed before I could talk,” she said.
She’s now belted out the patriotic song hundreds of times — from swim meets and professional soccer games, to the state wrestling championship at the Pepsi Center in February.
“And that was only 14,000. I say only like that’s not a lot of people. But I mean, from 14,000 to 76,000, plus millions of viewers. It’s definitely the biggest stage I’ve [performed] on,” she said.
And people took notice — even the superstars on the playing field.
“We all idolize them and then for a split second they want to talk to me. I’m just a 17-year-old girl,” Hruby said.
She showed off the music studio she’s converted out of her closet.
She’s a teenager who has put in the hours — at least seven each week — to make a name all her own.
And she is someone who has struggled with confidence like most teenagers — but her eye is strictly focused on the ball.
“That’s my ultimate goal is to touch people with my music and make people feel proud and happy they live here (in America),” she said.
Hruby is not only a talented singer, but also quite an athlete. She is going to college in West Virginia next year to play soccer.
She might pursue a future as a physical trainer. But music, as a professional recording artist, is also high on her list.