Travis Kelce joined Arrowhead Pride to wrap the 2021 season

The tight end discussed being at NFL Honors, losing to the Bengals — and what’s ahead heading into the offseason.

On the latest edition of our Arrowhead Pride “Interview Series,” Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce joined the show to wrap the 2021 season and look toward the season. Kelce is currently in Los Angeles for Super Bowl weekend, promoting Courtyard by Marriot’s 2022 Super Bowl Sleepover Suite.

(Listen to the 10-minute conversation above or by clicking here. It is also available on Spotify.)

On Thursday night, Kelce attended NFL Honors to support his brother — Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce — and his teammate, Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu. Both were nominees for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

Kelce was enjoying the ceremony when the show’s host, comedian Keegan-Michael Key decided to jab at the Chiefs. But Kelce had a jab of his own to share during the interview on Friday.

“Keegan — he’s an awesome guy; he’s absolutely hysterical,” started Kelce. “I respect the try, but I think it was a dig really at me because I called, ‘Game’ on his Los Angeles Chargers a couple weeks back, and he was in attendance. I actually got to meet him on the field before that game. So I think it was a little bit of a dig knowing that, ‘I got you during the season.’”

The Chiefs’ Thursday Night Football overtime win over the Chargers was their seventh straight win as part of an eight-game win streak that ended in Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

As it would play out, the Bengals would beat them for the AFC title a couple weeks later following an absolute thriller: the Divisional round’s overtime win against the Buffalo Bills.

“I don’t think anything lingered into the Bengals game,” explained Kelce. “We came out, started fast, put up points immediately. It was the adjustments in the second half that we needed to make — and the plays in the second half that we needed to make that we didn’t make.”

Kelce led the Chiefs with 10 catches for 95 yards and a touchdown, but he still felt he could have done more in the season-ending loss.

“I’d be the first one to put my hand in the air and say, ‘I needed to be better. I needed to be better for our team, for 1-5 back there,’ making plays like I know how to help transcend our offense in that second half, and I just — I don’t know. Still trying to figure it out, still trying to learn from it so it doesn’t happen again.

“It’s definitely one that’s going to sting for a while.”

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