Travis Kelce’s reason for missing the Kansas City Chiefs’ game this past weekend is pretty surprising.
“It had nothing to really do with my health. It had nothing to really do with whether or not I was going to get injured,” Travis, 34, admitted on the Wednesday, January 10, episode of his “New Heights” podcast with brother Jason Kelce. “It was more so it just didn’t feel right in my gut.”
The NFL tight end sat on the sidelines as the Chiefs played the Los Angeles Chargers in their final regular season game on Sunday, January 7, after being “in and out of practice” all week. (The Chiefs beat the Chargers 13 to 12.)
“If I could get some rest going in the next week, stay off the turf out there in L.A. and just avoid some hits, I was all for that to gear up for the playoffs,” he explained. However, Travis’ older brother wondered if the game miss had anything to do with an “arbitrary” NFL record.
Had Travis played on Sunday, it’s likely he would have broken the record for NFL tight end with the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He was just 16 receiving yards away from his eighth consecutive year. Instead, Travis ended the regular season with 984 receiving yards.
“It didn’t feel like I should be playing the game that way,” Travis mused on “New Heights,” explaining that he doesn’t “give a s—t about the record.”
“I’ve never sat here and said if I don’t get 1,000 yards, my season was a failure,” Travis said. “I’ve always had it in my mind … if I lose a Super Bowl, that’s a failure.”
Travis said that “it didn’t feel right” to play the game for just 16 yards.
“I thought I’d just bring the energy on the sideline,” he concluded. “Let my guys go out there and rock, and sure enough they did, baby.”
Ahead of the game, Travis played coy about his possible appearance on the field.
“I know Coach [Andy] Reid is gonna do what’s best for the time, and right now I’m not quite sure exactly how it’s gonna play out [and] if guys are gonna sit [on the bench], what guys are gonna get elevated,” Travis said during “New Heights” on January 5. “It’s really going [to] depend on who’s on your roster and how many guys you can deactivate and still put together a good team and have a full squad ready to go.”
Ahead of Sunday’s kickoff time, the Chiefs announced via X (formerly Twitter) that Travis had officially “been ruled OUT” of the game.
As the Chiefs game was the same day as the Golden Globes, Travis’ girlfriend Taylor Swift was missing from the stands. She was up for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement during Sunday’s awards show, but ultimately lost to Barbie.
