The Kansas City Chiefs AFC West-clinching victory over the Los Angeles Chargers was more than a victory for one of their star players. Patrick Mahomes took time in his postgame press conference to honor the latest career accomplishment from teammate Travis Kelce.
“He (Travis Kelce) means the world to me, man. I mean, without getting emotional – he’s a guy who has really kind of made me who I am in my career, and (he’s a) true leader on the football field. Someone – everybody says ‘security blanket’ but someone that I can go to at any moment, and he’s going to make a big play happen.” said Mahomes. “As he’s gone throughout his career, he’s never dropped off as far as his work ethic and the way he leads, and I think that’s super important when you have a guy that’s going to have a gold jacket, and he’s the hardest working dude on the team.”
Kelce became the fastest tight end to 12,000 career yards in the win and had the game-sealing reception to set up kicker Matthew Wright’s game-winning field goal.
“I think just both. Just in terms as a player, obviously, he’s (Travis Kelce) someone that – he plays in the same wavelength that I do, and it’s hard to do that, and I think you see (that) it takes guys time because it seems like from the first day I’ve kind of been on that same page with Trav.” said Mahomes. “Then, seeing him work every day, everybody sees like the personality on the TV and stuff like that, but you don’t see that everyday work ethic that he has. I mean, he’s the guy that gets mad when they take him out of practice reps. That’s just the type of work ethic (that) he has. Even for me, to come into the league and have a superstar player and see him work like that, it kind of showed me that I’m going to have to put that work ethic in if I want to get to that level.”
Kelce continues to rise in the league record books, and his performances show no signs of slowing down after an unusual start to the season that had many critics questioning his football future.
