One of Andy Reid’s enduring and even defining adages as a coach to his players is to “let your personality show.” And few have tested that acceptable range, and then some, more than Travis Kelce.
Even all these years since Reid first thought of him as “kind of a wild pony” — one whose on-field antics at times tarnished his sheer brilliance and exasperated Reid — Kelce still is capable of provoking what the longtime NFL coach likes to call “my red hair.”
So the typically composed Reid broke character by unleashing something between a growl and a snarl at Kelce during the Eagles game in November.
Stunningly, he could be seen blocking Kelce’s helmet back from an equipment man, who was trying to return it after Kelce spiked it on the sideline in that Christmas Day debacle against the Raiders.
And we shudder to imagine Reid’s reaction if Kelce had done what he (perhaps jokingly) said he was going to do last Sunday in Baltimore in the wake of a pre-game tiff with Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker.
On “The Pat McAfee Show,” Kelce said he and Patrick Mahomes were ready to take a 15-yard taunting penalty if Tucker had missed a fourth-quarter field goal.
Mahomes played along during a pop-in on that show. But on Thursday, somewhat reminiscent of his quick action to pull Kelce away from the podium at the White House last summer, Mahomes clarified that he was ready “to chase Travis and just get him back to the sideline. That would probably have been the best decision.”
