Travis Kelce’s slow start to the 2024 season continues to dominate sports media talk following his third straight underwhelming performance, a 30-yard, four-reception outing in Sunday night’s 22-17 win over the Falcons.
While NBC’s Cris Collinsworth called out the lack of “magic” between Kelce and star Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, former ESPN personality Todd McShay zoned in on other elements surrounding the All-Pro tight end’s highly publicized life.
“Every show I watch, every pregame show, halftime show, postgame show, weekday show, every broadcast I watch for the last few weeks, it’s like are we not allowed to say that he’s out of shape, that he’s been partying all offseason? He’s been jet-setting around with the most famous person probably in the entire world, that he’s drinking, going to the U.S. Open,” McShay said Monday on “The Ryen Russillo Podcast,” referencing Kelce and girlfriend Taylor Swift’s escapades earlier this month.
“… What I do know is, I want you to take a picture from preseason 2022 and then take a picture preseason 2024, they’re barely the same human being, Ryen, and everyone’s like, ‘We got to get him the ball, why isn’t he part of the offense?’ The defense is double-covering.’ Here’s the thing, bottom line with Kelce: The coverage and the respect he gets is the same, the athlete is not. Now, is he going to work himself into shape during the season? Yeah, I’m sure he will. He’s an unbelievable competitor, he’s one of the best to ever do it and he still finds a way to make a play or two here and there and shows up in some clutch moments, but he’s not the same guy right now.”
Kelce, now in his 12th NFL season with the Chiefs, has tallied eight receptions for 69 yards and zero touchdowns to open the year — one season after he failed to amass 1,000 total yards for the first time since 2015.
Although the three-time Super Bowl champ recently expressed that he stopped getting caught up with stats long ago, McShay pondered why some are dancing around certain critiques.
“I don’t see the same explosiveness, I see him wearing down a little bit in games, it’s OK, he’ll work himself back into shape, it’s not the first guy ever who’s not quite in the elite shape that he was,” said McShay, who is nearing a deal to join The Ringer full-time after being laid off by ESPN last year.
“And you’re sitting here and you’re defending him, too. Is there some kind of message I’m not getting from the league that you’re not allowed to say he’s not in the same shape, he’s not able to produce at the highest level right now? And he’ll probably work himself back into shape by Week 8, 9, 10 this season. Are we not allowed to say that?”
As McShay called attention to Kelce’s off-field endeavors, he added, “You can’t be doing all of those things and still be the same person physically as you were in 2022.”
“… I’m not blaming it on Taylor Swift, I’m not blaming anything, all I’m saying is when you win two Super Bowls, you got that whole tour that happens after the Super Bowl, he’s the most commercialized guy, there’s no one else doing more commercials I don’t think in the league, he and Mahomes are up there, I think Kelce’s doing more commercials and things, he’s been at more events, doing more things socially. It’s impossible to carry that schedule and still put in the same amount of time for football,” McShay said.
Even as the heat turns up on Kelce — who looked miserable on the bench Sunday in Atlanta — Mahomes has his back, with the quarterback elaborating on the tight end’s minimal presence on offense thus far.
“It’s crazy because teams still — the respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal. It’s well-deserved,” Mahomes said as the Chiefs improved to 3-0. “We’re calling a lot of plays for Travis and it’s like two or three people are going to him. He understands — that’s the great thing about him is he wants to make an impact on the game but he wants to win at the end of the day.”
The Chiefs face the Chargers (2-1) in Los Angeles on Sunday.
