Travis Kelce was not at his best in the Super Bowl earlier this month. But the Kansas City Chiefs' general manager believes even a prime performance from Kelce would not have been enough to fend of the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chiefs – who were aiming to become the first team in NFL history to win three successive Super Bowl – were beaten 40-22 in New Orleans on February 9.
Philadelphia's dominance was such at, at one point in the fourth quarter, they were leading 40-6, before a couple of late touchdowns thrown by Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes made the scoreline a little closer.
Kelce – whose partner Taylor Swift was in attendance as was booed by fans when she appeared on the stadium's big screen – caught just four passes for only 39 yards and no touchdowns.
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The six-time All-Pro tight end is one of the greatest players of all time in his position and has a strong track record of saving his best performances for the playoffs.
But although Kelce was far from his best in the Chiefs' Super Bowl loss, Brett Veach, the team's GM, thinks the 35-year-old could have done little to stop the Eagles.
“We’re never going to make excuses and talk about it, but he was battling with a pretty big illness there before the Super Bowl,” he said. “But listen, the way the Eagles played, it wouldn’t have made a difference.”
Kelce – who has one year remaining on his $19 million-a-year contract with Kansas City – is yet to confirm whether he intends to play on next season or retire.
But Veach is confident that Kelce will be back in action at Arrowhead Stadium for the 2025 season as the Chiefs aim to put their crushing Super Bowl defeat behind them.
“He has one more year under contract,” Veach said. “Still think he has that fire and desire to play. As far as I’m concerned, there is no deadline [for a decision] I think we left it as he’d be back. And we’re excited to get him back and get him going.”
Topics: NFL, American Football, Travis Kelce
Ryan Baldi