The Kansas City Chiefs won a hard-fought victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 58. It was the second time in four years the Chiefs have defeated the 49ers in a Super Bowl and second straight year with the Lombardi Trophy.
Kansas City is the modern-day dynasty in the NFL. There hasn’t been a team with this level of dominance since the New England Patriots with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, as they were the last team to win back-to-back Super Bowls 20 years ago.
While there are a lot of things people will remember from this game, one of the lasting images is star tight end Travis Kelce having an outburst on the sideline. He bumped and yelled at head coach Andy Reid in a scene rarely seen between a player and head coach.
When Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco fumbled, with Kelce on the sideline, he freaked out on his head coach and it was all caught on camera. He was eventually led away by running back Jerick McKinnon, who was making his return from the IR for the game.
It was an incident that Reid isn’t putting much stock into. While many people were disappointed in what they saw, Reid took the opposite approach. He appreciates Kelce’s passion for the game and said the bump looked worse than it was.
“He caught me off balance,” Reid said, indicating the contact was worse than it looked. “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.
“The part I love is he loves to play the game and he wants to help his team win. It’s not a selfish thing. That’s not what it is. I understand that. As much as he bumps into me, I get after him and we understand that. He just caught me off balance.”
Kelce also took accountability for the situation, admitting that his emotions got the best of him. It is easy to understand that as there is a lot of pressure on the players and coaches to win the biggest game of the season.
“I didn’t care about my catches,” he said. “I just wanted to … I wanted the score to be different. Coach has asked us to speak our minds and I just wanted to let him know how much passion I had for this team.
“He’s one of the best leaders of men I’ve ever seen in my life. And 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 and just love him.”
That wasn’t the first time the two have had an exchange with each other and it likely won’t be the last. Both Reid and Kelce have vowed they will be back for the 2024 season, giving the Chiefs a chance to enter a pantheon no NFL team has reached; winning three straight Super Bowls.
More must-reads: