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Kelce admitted last week that he wasn’t fully focused during his team’s 40-22 Super Bowl LIX loss to the Eagles, in which he caught just four balls and was largely anonymous.
But he told Pat McAfee via text that he had a ‘real bad taste in my mouth’ from the defeat, and Reid believes he’ll get a fully committed Kelce next season.
‘He said he was coming back, and he’s all in,’ Reid said on the The Bettor Angle podcast.
‘He’s all in, he’s a heck of a player. I mean listen, he’s getting older but you’re talking about the guy that’s going to go down as maybe the best of all time at that position. And okay well, if he’s a step slower or whatever people are saying, he’s still one of the best in the National Football League and in my eyes he’s the best.’
Kelce struggled to make his usual impact in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIX loss and drew criticism two days before the game when he was seen on a date night with girlfriend Taylor Swift.
‘I feel like I owe the guys that I come into that building with a whole lot more effort and focus,’ he later said on his New Heights podcast, referring to the game itself. ‘I just don’t know what it was during that game man, I wasn’t at my best.
‘The more that I see clips or watch the film and put myself back into those moments, man, I’m just like ‘what the f**k.”
His brother and co-host Jason replied: ‘Don’t overanalyze it Trav. You’re the king of not overanalyzing, so don’t overanalyze it.’
Travis then added: ‘But that’s how I find motivation. That’s how I create the beast, that’s how I flick the switch.’
By his own lofty standards, Kelce struggled during the 2024 regular season, as he posted his fewest receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (three) since his sophomore season in 2014.
He opened this year’s playoffs with a big 117-yard, one-touchdown performance against the Texans in the divisional round, but added just 58 yards the rest of the way as the Chiefs came up short of an historic three-peat.
Speaking on The Bettor Angle, Reid seemed confident that Kelce had plenty left to contribute.
‘Whatever he does on the field, the greatness that he is there, he’s even that much better off the field. He’s a great teammate and a great human being, one of those guys you’d say – he’s not going to do it – but one of those guys you’d say, ‘I’d love to have him on my staff when he’s done playing.”
He’s not done just yet, and he’ll hope to avenge his team’s disappointing loss in New Orleans.