LAS VEGAS (AP) — Travis Kelce brought home the hardware he promised to girlfriend Taylor Swift.
The Kansas City tight end finished with nine receptions for 93 yards, including a crucial catch in overtime, to help the Chiefs win their second straight Super Bowl with a 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.
One play after Kelce’s reception put the Chiefs on the 3-yard line, Patrick Mahomes found Mecole Hardman alone in the end zone for the winning TD, in the process helping Kelce keep his promise while sending Swift and everyone in her suite into a celebratory frenzy.
“Never a doubt in my mind,” Kelce said. “We’ve got the best quarterback in the league, we’ve got the best offensive line in the league, and we’ve got the most determination out of any team in the NFL and you saw all that tonight.
“I guess at this point I take it for granted, but I know we’re in every single game I’ve ever played in, no matter what the score is or no matter how much time is left, that guy’s got magic in his right arm.”
One night after Swift earned her fourth career Grammy for album of the year last week, Kelce said he told her he’d “have to hold up my end of the bargain and bring home some hardware, too.”
Swift flew halfway around the world to watch her boyfriend, who also said during the Super Bowl week’s opening night on Monday, “I want this one more than I’ve ever wanted a Super Bowl before in my life.”
After the game, Kelce said it’s on to the next feat.
“I’m going to go ahead and enjoy this and everything that just happened,” he said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I’ve been able to go through three times now. It gets sweeter and sweeter every time.
“You know the goal has always been to get three. But we couldn’t get here without getting that two, and having that target on our back all year.”
Kelce’s vibe at the end of the game was an emphatic change after he bumped Andy Reid on the sideline during the second quarter, knocking the 65-year-old Kansas City coach a few steps back after teammate Isiah Pacheco fumbled inside the red zone.
Kelce ran over to Reid and screamed at him after the fumble.
“You guys saw that?” Kelce said. “I’m going to keep it between us unless my mic’d up tells the world. I was just telling him how much I loved him.”
Reid said Kelce just wanted to be on the field. “There’s nobody I get better than I get him,” Reid said. “He’s a competitive kid. He loves to play. He makes me feel young. But my balance is terrible.”
This was the second sideline incident involving Kelce and Reid this season. During a game against the Raiders on Christmas Day, an angry Kelce spiked his helmet on the sideline, and when a staff member tried to hand it back to the tight end so that he could take the field, Reid grabbed the helmet and refused to give it back.
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