On a night when Travis Kelce caught three touchdown passes, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes put his favorite target on a pedestal among NFL greats.
“It’s Travis,” Mahomes said. “He’s the greatest tight end of all time.”
Kelce is quickly moving up in the record books. Kelce’s 17-yard touchdown pass in the final minute gave the Chiefs a 30-27 road win Sunday against the Chargers. Also on the play, Kelce recorded his 33rd career 100-yard receiving game, passing Rob Gronkowski for the most all time for a tight end.
“I got a whole lot of respect for Rob,” Kelce said. “Just to be in that conversation is pretty damn cool. Shoutout to the 87s out there. Let’s see if we can get a few more.”
In his Chiefs career, Kelce has caught 773 passes for 9,861 yards and 68 touchdowns, second only to Tony Gonzalez (916 receptions/10,940 yards/76 TDs) in team history. And at this rate, it may not take Kelce too much longer to pass Gonzalez in the Chiefs record books, though, Gonzalez played five more seasons with the Falcons.
Kelce has matured greatly since he was a young player and now has 10 years of experience to rely on.
“I’m an older dog,” Kelce said. “Throughout my years I just learn from situations that I’ve been through on the football field, situations that I’ve seen on the football field. And I just keep accumulating all that data and just put it in this computer up here (his mind) and hope that I can use it to my advantage when the times need it.”
The Chiefs needed that Sunday night as they trailed in the final minute but rallied thanks to Kelce, Mahomes and Andy Reid. They noticed Chargers safety Derwin James lined up on Kelce’s outside shoulder for much of the game. So Reid called for Kelce to run a crossing route over the middle, and Mahomes hit him in stride and Kelce angled left and took it to the end zone.
“Sure enough at the end of the game, I knew he was kind of sitting on my outside shoulder on a lot of this stuff,” Kelce said. “So anything vertical or outside he was locking me up pretty good. And Coach Reid saw that and called a play where I could get across the field and try to beat him with my legs.
“These old 33 legs. But I was just fortunate that Coach Reid and Pat never lost faith in me and my abilities to get open against a great cover guy like that.”
At 33, Kelce is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, he made it a priority in the offseason to come into training camp in better shape so he could beat Father Time.
“He made a cognizant effort this year of coming back in great shape,” Reid said. “He maintained that all the way through the offseason and into training camp. So I think that has helped him, especially for this year. Last year, he came in a little bit heavy and kind of worked through it. This year he came in in phenomenal shape.”
But for all of Kelce’s great ability — the size and speed combo — Mahomes says something else sets him apart.
“We’ve played a lot of reps, but he’s a competitor,” Mahomes said. “I’ll say it. I think that’s the best talent that Travis has. It’s not the size, the speed, the route running, it’s that he will compete to the very end. And he’s going to go down fighting, and I respect that. I think that I’m the same way.”
Kelce said his competitive nature comes from a great support system around him now, and his blue-collar roots growing up as a kid in Cleveland.
“It’s just my appreciation for the game,” Kelce said. “My appreciation for the guys before me. To give me the platform and the opportunity to do what I do today, the Kansas City fans, the organization. There’s a lot of people in this building that pour their heart into this entire orchestra of things. And I just put it on my back and lead with my heart to go out there and perform and be accountable for those people. And it’s just the way I was raised.”
