The All-Pro tight end became a three-time champion Sunday night, helping vault the Kansas City Chiefs with a big second half and overtime — and he got to win his latest Super Bowl with his celebrity girlfriend, Taylor Swift, watching from his luxury box.
But Kelce wasn’t feeling so hot early on as he was held to one catch for 1 yard in the first half, and cameras spotted an irate Kelce bumping his head coach, Andy Reid, screaming at him and knocking him off his block as the Chiefs were struggling.
On the most recent episode of their New Heights podcast, Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce discussed the event in question, which likely would have been a bigger story had the Chiefs lost to the 49ers.
Jason told Travis, “You crossed a line,” and Travis didn’t disagree.
“I did. I did,” he said. “I can’t get that fired up where I’m bumping coach (Reid) and it’s getting him off-balance and stuff. When he stumbled, I was just like, ‘Oh s—‘ in my head.”
Jason Kelce also took umbrage at his brother’s yelling at Reid.
“Let’s be honest, the yelling in his face, too, is over the top,” Jason said. “I think there’s better ways to handle this, retrospectively.”
Travis admitted fault but professed his love for Reid.
“I’m a passionate guy,” he explained. “I love Coach Reid. Coach Reid knows how much I love to play for him. How much I love to be a product of his coaching career.
“I’m not playing for anybody else but Big Red. If he calls it quits this year, I’m out there with him, man.”
Thankfully for Kelce, Reid has said he’ll be back in Kansas City in 2024 to go for the Chiefs’ third straight championship. And Reid had already forgiven his star tight end after the game.
“He’s emotional every game,” Reid said on Sunday night in Las Vegas. “I get it. Listen, I have five kids, so I get how that goes. The part I love is he loves to play the game, and he wants to help his team win. It’s not a selfish thing — that’s not what it is, and I understand that.
“So, as much as he bumps into me, I get after him, and we understand that. He just caught me off balance.”
Travis also explained on the podcast that he and Reid, who have been working together since 2013, when Reid joined the Chiefs, have been through a lot over the past decade-plus but that it only has strengthened their relationship.
“I got a certain relationship with him,” Kelce said. “He’s checked me a few times, and I just wanted to let him know that I wanted this thing and he can put it on me and I’ve got him. It came in a moment when we weren’t playing very well, and I wasn’t playing very well. And we had to get some s— going.
“… Sometimes those emotions get away from me; that’s been the battle of my career. But I don’t give a s— what anyone else says, I talked to Coach Reid about it today and we kind of chuckled about it. … I’m grateful because he knows that it’s all because I want to win this thing with him more than anything.”