The Kansas City Chiefs didn't play their best half of football to kick things off in Super Bowl LVIII, and star tight end Travis Kelce was letting head coach Andy Reid have it on the sideline.
After Patrick Mahomes missed a wide-open Kelce in the first half, the Chiefs tight end came up to Reid following the drive to lay into his head coach. Although Mahomes was able to find Mecole Hardman on a 52-yard gain to get Kansas City into the red zone, the Chiefs immediately gave the ball back to the 49ers after an Isiah Pacheco fumble.
NFL on CBS shared a video of the interaction via X.
Travis Kelce looked less than enthused pic.twitter.com/yncKhjtNl4
— NFL on CBS ? (@NFLonCBS) February 12, 2024
Kelce was completely shut down in the first half against the San Francisco 49ers. He went into halftime with just one catch for one yard on a single target, with the 49ers planning to contain the future Hall of Fame tight end as much as possible. That didn't last, however, as Kelce finished the game with nine receptions for 93 yards in Kansas City's dramatic overtime win.
It's worth noting that Kelce went down the sideline to apologize to his teammates after the outburst, and it's not the first time that the 34-year-old has had an emotional outburst on the sideline this season. During the team's 20-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders back in December, Kelce was caught throwing his helmet in frustration during a difficult offensive performance from the Chiefs.
Following the Super Bowl victory, Kelce and Reid both shared their thoughts on the outburst, downplaying the entire incident.
"He's emotional every game. I get it, listen I have five kids, so I get how that goes," Reid told reporters. "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."
"I've got the greatest coach this game has ever seen," Kelce shared. "He's unbelievable at not only dialing up plays and having everybody prepared, but he's one of the best leaders of men I have ever seen in my life. He's helped me a lot with that. With channeling that emotion, channeling that passion. And I owe my entire career to that guy. To be able to kind of control how emotional I get. I just love him."
While the moment could be blown up far more if the Chiefs lost on Sunday night, their second straight Super Bowl means that the entire moment is already water under the bridge.
