A seasoned veteran of the NFL, Travis Kelce has learned to keep his cool amid adversity.
On a new episode of his podcast New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, reflected on going touchdown-less in the first two games of the season.
âI used to get really, really pissed off and almost lose my cool,â Travis told his brother Jason, 36, about past frustrating performances. âI just like to play the game to such a high level of accountability that itâs just tough for me to deal with being mediocre or having stats that represent that.â
In the Chiefsâ first two games of the season â against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 5 and the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 15 â Travis has collectively made four catches for 39 yards. Those numbers arenât on par with the tight endâs usual stats, but he said heâs not worried about picking up the pace as the season continues.
The Chiefs star explained how âa lot of thingsâ have to âgo right for anybody to get the ballâ in a competitive NFL game, and it just hasnât happened yet between him and Kansas Cityâs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
âItâs just for whatever reason, these past two games, it hasnât gone that way for me, and thatâs football, man. Iâm not about to sit here and get frustrated about it,â Travis remarked.
Travis added that he âstopped caring about stats about four or five years ago,â and that helped him be able to âjust play freeâ and develop a âbetter mentalityâ around competition.
Mahomes, too, said heâs not concerned about Travisâ early stats.
âObviously weâve played two opponents [Ravens, Bengals] weâve played a lot, so they have a plan on how theyâre going to account for Travis,â Mahomes told reporters after their win on Sunday. âBut as the season goes on, I mean, heâs going to get his catches, heâs going to get his yards, but the leader he is, whatâs special is heâs hyping everybody up, heâs keeping everybody motivated, and thatâs what you need out of your great players.â
In the matchup against Joe Burrow and the Bengals, the Chiefs narrowly defeated Cincinnati in a thrilling game in front of Travisâ girlfriend Taylor Swift.
Burrowâs Bengals carried a 16-10 lead into halftime but Kansas City took the advantage in the third quarter with a touchdown, before the teams continued trading leads.
Mahomes, 29, threw two interceptions in the game and Burrow fumbled at the start of the fourth quarter, but it was a 51-yard field goal from Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker that secured Kansas City its second win of the season.