Chiefs’ Travis Kelce tops big brother on Super Bowl stage
Feb 12, 2023, 6:54 AM | Updated: 9:15 pm
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) is surrounded after the NFL Super Bowl 57 football game, against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Travis Kelce finished off what he called the best year of his life with a second Super Bowl title.
This one came at the expense of his big brother.
The Chiefs tight end hauled in six catches for a team-leading 81 yards and a touchdown Sunday night, helping Kansas City rally from a 10-point halftime hole to beat Jason Kelce and the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 at State Farm Stadium.
“I got closer to my brother. Got to meet him at the mountaintop,” the younger Kelce said. “Best feeling in the world.”
Travis Kelce got emotional when he began talking about his mother, Donna Kelce, who became a star in her own right during Super Bowl week. She was featured during pregame wearing a custom outfit that was half Chiefs and half Eagles, along with a pair of shoes with Jason Kelce’s number on the right and Travis Kelce’s number on the left, earrings representing each team and a tote bag that had both her sons’ numbers and “Mama Kelce” on it.
She was clearly playing no favorites on Sunday night.
There could be only one winner, though.
Jason Kelce did all he could to help the Eagles add another Lombardi Trophy to the one he won in 2018. The burly center paved the way for Jalen Hurts to throw for 304 yards and a touchdown while running for 70 yards and three more scores, and he helped the Eagles drive downfield in the fourth quarter for a tying touchdown and 2-point conversion.
The Chiefs still had time in a 35-all game for his All-Pro little brother and Patrick Mahomes to go to work.
With about three minutes to go, the two connected for a nice completion early in the drive, helping Kansas City into rhythm as it drove for a go-ahead score. The Chiefs eventually moved near the Philadelphia goal line, aided by a questionable penalty for defensive holding, before Harrison Butker drilled a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds to go.
The Eagles threw incomplete on the game’s final play as Travis Kelce and the Chiefs raced off the sideline to celebrate.
Then, old No. 87 tried to find his big brother amid the showering confetti.
“In a situation like that, there’s not a lot you can say to a loved one,” Travis Kelce said, tearing up. “You joke around all the time and say that you want to beat your brother on the biggest stage ever, but it’s a weird feeling.
“There’s nothing really I could say to him, other than I love him and he played a hell of a year, a hell of a season.”
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