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Two-time Pro Bowler talked about new maturity hours before hitting his opponent below the belt

So much for being more mature.

Part of the charm of Kansas City Chiefs' tight end Travis Kelce is that he doesn't mind having fun while playing football.

He's always dancing or celebrating, generally having fun playing the game, but sometimes he does take it too far. Remember, he's had a few incidents with the referees, and he hasn't necessarily been an angel when it comes to interacting with players on the opposing team.

That was the case again on Thursday Night Football when the Chiefs took on the Patriots. Kelce took a cheap shot at Kyle Van Noy, hitting him in the groin with the football while on the bottom of a pile.

At face value, this is just another example of Kelce being Kelce. It's not super unexpected, right?

While not unexpected, it does run in stark contrast with that Kelce told Mike Tirico before the game in a one-on-one interview package. Kelce asserted that it was time for him to step up and be a leader for the Chiefs. He told Tirico that it was time for him to make sure the team is going in the right direction. Of course, he could have been talking about his play on the field, but then why say it like this?

"I can't just be the young idiot on the field doing immature things. You know, I have to be the one in the front making sure we're going in the right direction."

As a sound bite, that sounded good for Kelce, but he proved, likely not even hours later, that he still has plenty of "young idiot" left in him.