CLEVELAND — Cleveland Heights native Travis Kelce sure knows how to have a good time, and the veteran Pro Bowl tight end was in peak form in the moments following the Kansas City Chiefs’ 35-24 win over the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game Sunday.
Much to the delight of the home fans at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri who were reveling in the Chiefs’ return to the Super Bowl after a 50-year absence, Kelce joined quarterback Patrick Mahomes, safety Tyrann Mathieu, coach Andy Reid and team executives on the podium as they hoisted the Lamar Hunt Trophy and he epically channeled Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, the Beastie Boys, to close out the interview.
“I’ll tell you what, it’s been seven years coming, baby,” Kelce said to CBS Sports announcer Jim Nantz before taking the microphone and continuing his answer. “I’ve learned one thing since I’ve been here, ‘You’ve got to fight for your right to party.’”
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Before quoting “Fight for Your Right,” Kelce had a very colorful and memorable moment when he interrupted Mahomes’ postgame interview with CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson and had high praise for his quarterback before dropping a not-safe-for-work comment.
“The best quarterback in the National Football League right here, baby, and he shows it every, single time,” Kelce said. “Humble as could be, baby. I (expletive) love you.”
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Before taking the podium for the trophy presentation, Kelce shared a celebratory hug with his older brother, Jason.
The elder of the Kelce brothers, who wore one of his Travis’ jerseys at the game and donned a red Chiefs coat to combat the frigid conditions at Arrowhead Stadium, brought home a Super Bowl LII Championship with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now, Travis will look to even up the bragging rights at the family dinner table when the Chiefs go to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, for Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, February 2.
After leaving the field, the party rolled on for the Chiefs, and not surprisingly, Kelce was enjoying himself alongside, or in this case, on the back of another Northeast Ohio native, Chiefs standout defensive end Frank Clark.
On the walk off the field, Clark literally gave Kelce a lift, as he carried the tight end on his back through a crowd of jubilant fans and into the Chiefs locker room.
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.