Kelce’s sideline outburst toward his coach was widely debated during and after the game
Travis Kelce is addressing his outburst towards head coach Andy Reid during the 2024 Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs player, 34, agreed he “crossed the line” as he shared his regret over the outburst, in which he bumped into Reid, 65, and screamed at him causing him to stumble, on the latest episode of the New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast, released Wednesday.
“You crossed the line, I think we can both agree of that,” brother and co-host Jason Kelce told Travis.
“I did. I can’t get that fired up to the point where I’m bumping Coach and it’s getting him off balance and stuff,” Travis agreed. “When he stumbled I was like, ‘Oh s—,’ in my head,” he added.
A clip of the outburst was shared on Inside the NFL Tuesday, with audio from the moment cut.
The incident came after running back Isiah Pacheco fumbled the ball close to scoring early in the second quarter, which would’ve given the Chiefs the lead over the San Francisco 49ers. Kelce, who was not in the game during the play, then marched over to Reid and grabbed his left arm while bumping into him and screaming.
Reid appeared to stumble a few steps before catching his balance, and teammate Jerick McKinnon ushered Kelce away while he was still yelling at the coach.
“I’m a passionate guy. I love Coach Reid, Coach Reid knows how much I love to play for him, how much I love to be a product of his coaching career,” Travis continued on the podcast.
He explained that his outburst “came at a moment where we weren’t playing very well, I wasn’t playing very well and … those emotions get away from me,” which he admitted has been “the battle of my career.”
Travis insisted he didn’t push Reid and added that should the latter exit over the situation, he would also leave the Chiefs. “I’m not playing for anybody else but Big Red. If he calls it quits this year I’m out of there with him, man,” he said.
Following the outburst, he said he and Reid “chuckled” about it while speaking with each other after the incident. He maintained of his actions that he “immediately wishes I took it back.”
“It’s definitely unacceptable,” Travis continued. “Coach Reid actually came right up to me after that and didn’t even have harsh words for me … he just let me know, ‘Hey man I love your passion, I got cameras on me all over the place man.’ You don’t want this to come off. It just fired me up even more to get a victory for him man as that’s how much I love that dude, man.”
“So Big Red, sorry if I caught you with that cheap shot baby,” he apologized.
The intense scene between Kelce and Reid was widely discussed on social media during and after the Kansas City Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Both Kelce and Reid downplayed the incident after the game but declined to repeat exactly what Kelce had said. “I’m going to keep that between us, unless my mic’d up tells the world,” Kelce told ESPN, laughing off the outburst. “I was just telling him how much I love him.”
Reid and Kelce are close, both joining the Chiefs in 2014 and winning three Super Bowls together.
Kelce and his coach laughed about the incident after the game. Reid chuckled while telling CBS Sports that Kelce “keeps me young,” joking that his bump tested his hip strength.
Later on ESPN, Reid explained: “He caught me off balance. I wasn’t watching. He was really coming over [and saying], ‘Just put me in, I’ll score. I’ll score.’ So, that’s really what it was. I love that. It’s not the first time. I appreciate him.“
Kelce also joked about the incident on ESPN’s SportsCenter after the game, telling Scott Van Pelt that he was giving Reid a “love tap” and that he was upset the team wasn’t “firing on all cylinders” early in the game.
Speaking at a press conference after the game, Kelce expanded on his gratitude for Reid, saying in footage shared by NFL on FOX, “I got the greatest coach this game has ever seen. He’s one of the best leaders of men that I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s helped me a lot with that, with channeling that emotion, with channeling that passion. I owe my entire career to that guy and being able to kind of control how emotional I get.”
