Travis Kelce admits "I immediately wished I could have taken it back" after allowing frustration to boil over when he bumped into Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid during his side's Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Wednesday 14 February 2024 20:23, UK
Travis Kelce admits his sideline outburst at Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid during the Super Bowl was 'unacceptable'.
Kelce was seen shouting in the face of Reid as well as bumping into him in the aftermath of Isiah Pacheco's fumble in the first quarter of Sunday's win over the San Francisco 49ers, with the Chiefs tight end seemingly unhappy he had been taken out of the game during the play.
Speaking afterwards, Kelce joked he had merely been telling Reid how much he loved him, while the head coach himself played down the incident.
Kelce addressed the situation again while filming his podcast New Heights with brother Jason.
"I can't get that fired up to the point where bumping coach and it's getting him off balance and stuff," Kelce said. "It came in a moment when we weren't playing very well and I wasn't playing very well.
"It's definitely unacceptable and I immediately wished I could have taken it back. Coach Reid actually came right up to me after that and didn't even have harsh words for me."
Brother Jason Kelce added: "The yelling in his face, too, was over the top.
"I think there are better ways to handle this, retrospectively."
Kelce had nine catches for 93 yards in the contest, including a crucial 22-yard catch-and-run on third-and-seven in the final moments of the fourth quarter to help set up Harrison Butker's game-tying field goal to send the game to overtime.
The Chiefs went on to clinch a 25-22 victory and their third Super Bowl ring in five seasons after Mahomes' game-winning touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman.
Kelce this year broke the great Jerry Rice's record for most postseason catches in NFL history, while he and Mahomes surpassed Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski for most touchdown connections between a quarterback and receiver in the playoffs.
The 34-year-old made 93 catches for 984 yards and five touchdowns during the regular season, the first time he has not posted 1,000 receiving yards since 2015.
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