Travis Kelce admitted he crossed a line when he bumped Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid during Sunday's Super Bowl, conceding it was "unacceptable" while chalking it up to his "passion."
"It’s definitely unacceptable, and I immediately wish I would have took it back," Kelce said Wednesday on the “New Heights” podcast, which he hosts with his brother, Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles.
"Coach Reid actually came right up to me after that and didn’t even have harsh words for me ... and he just let me know: ‘Hey man, I love your passion. I got cameras on me all over the place, man,'” Kelce recalled.
Kelce said he talked to Reid about the scuffle — “and we kind of chuckled about it.”
Cameras at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium caught the heated encounter in which Kelce yelled at Reid and appeared to grab the coach's arm during the second quarter.
“Unfortunately, sometimes my passion comes out where it looks like it’s negativity, but I’m grateful that he knows that it’s all because I want to win this thing with him more than anything,” Kelce said.
Jason admonished his brother, saying, "You crossed a line."
“I did,” Travis agreed. “I can’t get that fired up to the point where I'm bumping Coach and it’s getting him off balance and stuff. When he stumbled, I was just like 'Oh, s---' in my head.”
“Let’s be honest, the yelling in his face too is over the top. I think there’s better ways to handle this retrospectively,” Jason said.
“Yeah, I know. 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, you know, a product of his coaching career. I’m not playing for anybody else but Big Red. If he calls it quits this year, I’m out there with him,” Travis said.
He said the scuffle came "at a moment where we weren’t playing very well, I wasn’t playing very well, and we had to get some s--- going."
Jason noted that Travis didn't push the coach but rather ran up toward him and bumped into him.
“You came up hot because you’re pissed off, doesn’t look great, obviously. The optics of it look really bad, but nobody knows your and Big Red’s relationship,” Jason said.
“It wasn’t me mad at Coach Reid, as it looks. It was the frustration of our team not having success, turning the ball over, and me being on the sideline,” Travis said. “It was me showing my passion and frustration and letting Coach know he can put it on me and I’ll make sure I get this s--- done. It wasn’t me yelling at him to do something.”
Kelce said Reid's calm handling of the incident "fired me up even more to go out there" and secure a "victory for him, man."
"So Big Red, sorry if I caught you with that cheap shot baby," Kelce joked.
In the end, the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in a thrilling overtime Super Bowl victory.
Reid joked on CBS’ postgame show that Kelce “keeps me young.”
“He tested that hip out. He caught me off-balance — normally, I’d give him a little bit, but I didn’t have any feet under me,” he said.
In his postgame press conference, Reid reiterated that there were no hard feelings.
“He loves to play the game, and he wants to help his team win,” Reid told reporters. "It’s not a selfish thing, that’s not what it is, and I understand that."
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