Travis Kelce opted to rest and recuperate rather than extend his own record.
Kelce, 34, sat out Sunday’s regular-season finale for the Chiefs against the Chargers, meaning that he fell 16 yards short of having eight straight 1,000-yard seasons, with his seven consecutive years having already been the record for NFL tight ends.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid explained that star pass rusher Chris Jones chose to appear in the game in pursuit of a $1.25 million bonus for reaching 10 sacks this season, joking that it could buy a lot of cheeseburgers, before explaining why Kelce decided to sit out the game.
“He is a humble, humble guy,” Reid said of Kelce.
“It’s different because of the financial part of it with Chris, he [Kelce] didn’t want to be selfish, or come across as selfish — all the players wanted him to play, but he just goes, ‘You know what, I don’t like the way it feels,’ — he’s not into that. He chose not to play.
“I completely understand it, but that’s him. Most guys would’ve gone out and probably done it, but he said, ‘I’ve got a lot of records, this one here, I’m not gonna do it this way.”
Even in what has been a down — and at times frustrating — year by his lofty standards, Kelce caught 93 passes for 984 yards and five touchdowns in the regular season.
Kelce has spent the season in the limelight, between being in myriad commercials and dating world-famous songstress Taylor Swift.
Swift has attended a majority of the Chiefs’ games since the couple first became public earlier this season.
The Chiefs are 3.5-point favorites for their home playoff game against the Dolphins on Saturday night.
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