Travis Kelce made no bones about it: He was completely in the wrong for bumping into Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and then yelling in his face.
No matter how high his emotions were during Super Bowl LVIII, Kelce said he shouldn't have done it, and it was "unacceptable" behavior from him.
Reid had pulled Kelce out of the game with Kansas City deep inside the redzone. On the very next play, the Chiefs fumbled the ball, and the San Francisco 49ers recovered it. Running back Jerick McKinnon eventually pulled Kelce away after seeing him make their 65-year-old coach stumble.
“I can’t get that fired up to the point where bumping Coach and it’s getting him off balance and stuff. When he stumbled, I was like: ‘Aw, shit’ in my head,” Kelce said. “He’s checked me a few times, and I just wanted to let him know that I wanted this thing and that he can put it on me and I got him.
“It just came in a moment where we weren’t playing very well. I wasn’t playing very well and we had to get some sh*t going.
During his and his Jason Kelce's post-Super Bowl episode of their New Heights podcast, the brothers discussed the situation.
Jason, who acknowledged his brother's contrition, went a step further in his constructive criticism.
“It was pleading with your head coach to let you go out there and win this s***, me and you both know what that is,” the longtime Philadelphia Eagles center said. “I think there’s better ways to handle this, retrospectively.
“You crossed the line.”
Jason said Travis' actions were over the top, which he agreed with. The 34 year old said that Reid did come over to him later on the sideline and was much kinder to him than he expected him to be.
“I deserve it," Travis said. "If he would have cold cocked me in the face right there, I would have just ate it. I would have been like: ‘Let’s fucking go,’” Travis said.
When Reid was asked about the situation after the game, he took a small jab at the time that Travis had gotten in the face of former offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy in 2019.
"I love that," Reid said. "It's not the first time."
For his part, Travis finished the conversation by once again apologizing to Reid, who he thanked for his entire career.
“I just love playing for the guy, man," Travis said. "And unfortunately, sometimes, my passion comes out where it looks like it’s negativity, but I’m grateful he knows it’s all because I want to win this thing with him more than anything.
“Big Red, sorry if I caught you with that cheap shot, baby."