Shannon Sharpe on why Travis Kelce is open-and-shut case for best tight end

If you ask Shannon Sharpe about the greatest tight end ever, he has no questions about Travis Kelce being that player.

Shannon Sharpe knows a thing or two about greatness at the tight end position. The former seventh-round pick of the Denver Broncos turned in the sort of career that warrants mention in the conversation for all-time greatness himself, but he revealed his choice for the best ever while sitting right next to him—while recording a podcast episode of Travis Kelce’s podcast.

Sharpe was asked about his Mt. Rushmore of tight ends, which included Kelce, Rob Gronkowski, Kellen Winslow, and Antonio Gates. While we could also write a whole angle here about the exclusion of Tony Gonzalez, for some reason, we’ll stay the course on a positive track and what Sharpe said about Kelce.

Sharpe begins his analysis with the fact that Kelce and Gronk “have” to be on that Mt. Rushmore exercise. He takes it from there.

“They have to be there because the thing I love most about him, you look at the regular season numbers and he’s better in the postseason than he is the regular season. What we call him is a big gamer. The bigger the moment, the bigger he plays. Gronk was like that. The bigger the moment, the bigger he played.

“Who the hell you think Patrick’s gonna throw the ball to? You’re gonna throw it to him. They know that. 80,000 people know that. Patrick Mahomes knows that. He knows they’re throwing him the ball and the defense knows they’re throwing him the ball. Somehow he still finds a way to come down with the football.”

Sharpe discussed all of this on New Heights, the podcast launched in the last year by the Kelce brothers. The whole episode is well worth the listen for his own memories on draft day, his thoughts on greatness, his relationship with Sterling Sharpe and more.

While we were already convinced, it’s hard not to be swayed by Sharpe’s own analysis. If anything, Kelce is only getting better with age, which should only serve to cement his place in Canton for when he decides to hang it up.