A brand new NFL season is upon us, which suggests it’s time for one more spherical of sports activities media’s most infuriating sport, “Travis Kelce is struggling, and it’s all Taylor Swift’s fault.”
Sure, after three video games, Travis has but to place in the kind of dominant efficiency that Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ followers have come to anticipate from their favourite tight finish.
After all, there are doubtless many components at play there, not the least of which is the truth that Kelce will flip 35 subsequent month.
(For context, he’s a couple of decade older than the opposite two tight ends on the Chiefs’ roster.)
Previously, Travis’ efficiency has improved because the season progressed, and that’ll doubtless occur once more this 12 months.
However don’t inform that to the new take machines who earn their residing spewing nonsense on lesser-known sports activities podcasts!
Then once more, information that Coach Andy Reid was benching gamers didn’t assist issues…
Kansas Metropolis Chiefs Coach Broadcasts Star Participant Has Already Been Benched
In the course of the Tremendous Bowl champs third sport again of the 2024-25 season, much less consideration was placed on the truth that the fellows gained three video games in a row than Travis Kelce sitting on the bench.
Cameras caught Travis wanting sullen and depressed. Some assumed it was as a consequence of his girlfriend lacking the sport; others anxious it was due to his poor efficiency in the course of the sport. The latter feared Travis’ time on the bench would proceed if his sport didn’t get into examine.
After which Andy Reid introduced he was benching one in all his star gamers for the foreseeable future.
However, it’s not Travis!
The left deal with place stays a significant query for the Chiefs, as neither rookie Kingsley Suamataia nor second-year Wanya Morris have stood out in a major method.
That’s why, after profitable three video games in a row, Reid advised reporters that Morris would begin in Week 4 towards the Chargers. Suamataia due to this fact has formally been benched, and it’s unclear when he’ll get that left deal with job again.
So Travis is protected – for now…
Former ESPN analyst Todd McShay blasted Travis throughout a latest look on one thing known as “The Ryen Russillo Show.”
“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?” McShay requested, in line with Web page Six.
“That he’s been partying all offseason? He’s been jet-setting around with the most famous person probably in the entire world,” the pundit continued.
“I want you to take a picture from preseason 2022 and then take a picture preseason 2024, they’re barely the same human being.”
The Many Causes of Travis’ Powerful Season
McShay went on to dismiss claims Kelce’s diminished manufacturing is a consequence of the truth that he’s a frequent goal for double protection by opposing defenses.
“Here’s the thing, bottom line with Kelce: The coverage and the respect he gets is the same, the athlete is not,” he stated.
“Now, is he going to work himself into form in the course of the season? Yeah, I’m certain he’ll.
“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.”
What Does the Future Maintain For Travis and Taylor?
So will Travis Kelce retire on the finish of the present NFL season? It appears extremely doubtless, particularly if he achieves his objective of main the Chiefs to an unprecedented third-straight Tremendous Bowl victory.
Regardless of the case, even when Travis has misplaced a step, and his present woes show everlasting, it’s absurd accountable the decline on Taylor.
However sadly, it’s not an unusual take. Some deranged followers have even known as for Taylor to be banned from NFL video games.
Luckily, McShay doesn’t take issues that far. In actual fact, he acknowledges that there are a number of components contributing to Travis’ lackluster season.
“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,” McShay stated.
“I think Kelce’s doing more commercials and things. He’s been at more events, doing more things socially,” he elaborated.
“It’s impossible to carry that schedule and still put in the same amount of time for football.”
After all, Travis maintained a wildly hectic schedule final season, and the Chiefs gained the Tremendous Bowl.
So it’s attainable that this McShay character merely doesn’t know what he’s speaking about.
