CLEVELAND — Cleveland Heights native Travis Kelce had to wait three-and-a-half quarters of Super Bowl LIV to find the end zone, but with the Kansas City Chiefs in desperate need of seven points in the fourth period, he delivered in a major way.
One play after drawing a pass interference penalty that gave the Chiefs 20 free yards and set up the Kansas City offense at the one-yard line, Kelce hauled in a touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
With the successful extra point try, the Chiefs cut the San Francisco 49ers’ lead down to three points, 20-17, with 6:13 to play in the fourth quarter.
On first-and-goal from the San Francisco one-yard line, Kelce lined up on the right side of the formation, and after Mahomes took the snap under center and used a play-action fake, as well as a rollout, he found his All-Pro tight end open in the end zone.
After Kelce broke free from San Francisco’s defense with an out route toward the sideline, he hauled in the pass, and then, celebrated with his teammates before the extra point try.
Kelce had five catches for 34 yards and the touchdown, ran for a two-yard gain that gave the Chiefs a first down, and then, drew the penalty that set up his touchdown catch over the first three-plus quarters of his first Super Bowl appearance.
A third-round pick of the Chiefs in the 2013 NFL Draft out of the University of Cincinnati, Kelce had his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season in 2019, as he converted 136 targets into 97 receptions, 1,229 yards and five touchdowns. It was Kelce’s second-most yards in a single season in his NFL career.
During two postseason games this year, Kelce caught 10 passes for 134 yards and three touchdowns with all of those scores coming in Kansas City’s unprecedented comeback from a 24-point deficit against the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.
“He was banged up in the game where he caught three touchdowns in the second quarter,” Jeff Rotsky, Kelce’s coach at Cleveland Heights, said to 3News earlier this week. “That was amazing. He understands the game. He understands where the fits are, how to settle into the zones, and when he’s got man, how to break them off on his corner routes. He’s just got it. He’s got a very high IQ, and Jason was the same way.
“God, I hope I’m not hexing him, but I see him catching one early and it’s going to be a great game. It’s going to be a close game. I see him catching the winner in the corner of the end zone to win the ball game. That’s Coach Rotsky’s dream and prediction.”