A sombre-looking Travis Kelce prepares to leave the media scrum (Image: X)
The pain of defeat was etched on face as he abruptly ended a post- interview. The Philadelphia Eagles ended Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs’ bid to win three straight Super Bowls as they ran out 40-22 winners in New Orleans.
The Eagles’ defence dominated and pressured Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes throughout the evening, sacking him a career-high six times and intercepting him twice. Opposite number Jalen Hurts was named the most valuable player after he threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns, as well as scoring one himself, as the Eagles avenged their defeat to the Chiefs two years ago.
It was tough to take for Chief tight end Kelce, who briefly faced the media after the game. Surrounded by reporters, he praised the Eagles, saying: “Hats off to the Eagles, they got after us, all three phases.
“We couldn’t get it going offensively. They just got after us on all three phases. You don’t lose like that without everything going bad. We haven’t played that bad all year.”
Kelce added that the Chiefs “just couldn’t find that spark, couldn’t find that momentum”. Trying to explain what went wrong, he said: “Not taking advantage of the play call and executing them. There’s a lot that goes into it.
“This team is going to fight until the end forever, and you saw that. Even with the score late, we’re always going to fight.” Finally, he added: “This one’s going to hurt. Let it hurt and figure out how to get better because of it.”
He suddenly turned away, left the media scrum and headed out of the arena, avoiding questions over his future and potential retirement too.
A dejected Kelce leaves his post-game media session (Image: X)
It was also a bad night for Kelce’s girlfriend, who, to her surprise, was when she appeared on the big screen inside the Caesars Superdome before being mocked by President . Following the crowd’s unfavourable reaction, the Grammy Award-winning artist looked visibly perplexed, saying: “Aww, what’s going on?”
Following the incident, President Trump, who suggested on social media that Taylor had a “tougher night” than Travis’ team.
Kelce was said to be upset by the boos directed at Swift. A source told the : “Travis was aware of Taylor getting booed and he felt helpless. Seeing the look on her face got to him. He always protects her and it broke his heart.
“He was already having a tough night and the fact that the stadium was predominantly Eagles fans didn’t help. Travis knows that this hurt her and anyone can see this.” Meanwhile, an that Kelce found it “unnecessary” for Trump to target his girlfriend.