The reliable greatness of Travis Kelce

The Kansas City Chiefs have somehow developed another generational talent at tight end, and we should all be more thankful for his reliable greatness.

It occurred to me sometime after the emotions of the most recent Kansas City Chiefs game subsided that I’d let a couple Travis Kelce notes slip through on Twitter.

Every so often, the Chiefs themselves or reporters who work directly for the team will send out milestone updates during games. During the actual gameplay between the Chiefs and Chargers on Monday Night Football, Kelce had, once again, accomplished something. I’d let it slide.

I’ve done that a lot with Kelce at various marks.

• The television reminded me he’s on his way to being the first tight end ever with four consecutive seasons of 1,000 receiving yards and I just nodded with a smile.
• On Monday, he became the second-fastest tight end to ever reach 6,000 yards (Rob Gronkowski is first) and I missed it the first time around.
• Kelce leads all tight ends in deep touchdown catches (7) since 2017 and I think I said, “Sounds good.”
• In late October, he became the fastest tight end to 450 career receptions. My thought was, “Who else would it be?”

You get the idea.

With each passing season, Kelce establishes yet another round of achievements, serving them up like a friendly bartender. SIngle-season greatness? Check. Consistency year after year? Check. A record-setting body of work? Check. Kelce has now crossed the 30-year mark but shows no signs of slowing whatsoever. In fact, the question is laughable when watching Kelce week after week. If some psychic said “Travis Kelce will duplicate his last five seasons over the course of the next five,” you’d likely shrug and respond, “Of course, he will.”

With a player like Patrick Mahomes, it feels like Chiefs Kingdom is still adjusting to his greatness. The emotion is still attached. The exclamations are still there. We’re settling into this long-term viewing relationship.

With Travis Kelce, the opposite feels true. When Kelce goes up and grabs a pass deep in the end with perfect footwork, body control, and ball security, we all just smile and say, “My man.” We’re muted. We’re used to it. We love him, know him, and realize this is just exactly what he does, time after time.

Maybe that’s not true for all of you. Maybe even most of you will still act as enamored as ever with such a prize at tight end. Personally, I feel like I’m used to it—all in a good way. It’s the feeling of being married for nearly 15 years, settled into a wonderful partnership where the language is understood. Of course, Kelce is going to come up big for the first down. Of course, he’s going to go for 7 catches and 80 yards with a score.

Maybe Chiefs fans like me, the ones who can be a bit more subdued about having a player like Kelce, is because we’ve all already watched a record-setting tight end occupy this same role. I grew up watching Tony Gonzalez, the very model of consistency and productivity, He was generationally great and was recently rewarded as such with a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But here’s the thing: outside of Kansas City, Canton-bound tight ends don’t exactly come around all that often. Most teams are satisfied if they can find a Jack Doyle type. Having a game-changing force at the position, an incredible mismatch against nearly every defense in the entire NFL, is the rare gift that keeps on giving. Seven years into his career, teams still don’t know how to defend Kelce. That’s crazy!

This season, more than any before it, has forced me to be a bit more effusive in my praise about Kelce as the offensive pillar. Tyreek Hill has been plagued by injuries. Sammy Watkins explodes and then fades a bit with his health always a concern. Mecole Hardman is used too sparingly and the run game lacks any similar workhorse/pillar without Kareem Hunt around. With injuries and inconsistency, we’re left looking at Kelce with a thankful spirit, knowing there’s at least one pass catcher with whom there’s zero drama.

So rather than continue to let it slide or to offer a knowing smile, it made sense to point to Travis Kelce in the public way available to me and state my own gratitude. I’m used to it but I never want to take it for granted. We’re watching another generational talent showcase his skills at Arrowhead every week and we’re blessed in our ability to watch and cheer. He’s setting new marks left and right and I want to pause and appreciate each one.

Kelce deserves it even if we don’t deserve Kelce.