It’s been a few weeks since the Kansas City Chiefs were trounced in the Super Bowl by the Philadelphia Eagles. Indeed, the 40-22 is not at all indicative of what kind of whooping the Eagles put on old KC.
But perhaps most surprisingly was the almost non-existent performance of star tight end Travis Kelce, who has for years been the most reliable and dangerous receiving target in the league.
Despite the time that’s gone by, it appears that the Chiefs are still trying to come up with excuses for this loss. In a new interview, the Chiefs’ General Manager Brett Veach claims that Travis Kelce, 35, was privately “battling” a “big illness” before the Super Bowl.
Kelce’s Mysterious ‘Big Illness’
Veach began by claiming that he was not “making excuses” for the loss. However, he proceeded to do just that. Veach claimed that Kelce was “battling a pretty big illness” in the lead-up to the Super Bowl, which took place in New Orleans on February 9.
What kind of illness? We don’t know – the kind that was minor enough to allow him to suit up and run around on the field, but apparently major enough to affect his normally top-tier game.
“We didn’t have the end to our season that we hoped for,” Veach admitted. He added that the Chiefs had “picked a bad day to have a bad day.”
Trying to look at the positive, Veach stated that the Chiefs will use this loss as “motivation to get better.”
“You learn more from your losses than your wins,” he continued. Which, as far as it goes, is definitely true.
Is Kelce Retiring?
Kelce is currently deciding whether he’ll retire or play another season with the Chiefs. When asked if he expects Kelce to keep playing, Veach replied, “I think so. We anticipate Travis being back. We’re excited to have Travis back.”
Veach proceeded to gush over Kelce. The general manager said that the tight end “finds a way to stay in shape and produce at a level that only he can.”
“He makes us better when he’s in our locker room and on our field and we’re excited to get him back,” Veach explained. He then said that Kelce had “accomplished everything that there is in this game.”
Veach concluded by praising Kelce for his “unique ability to make those around him better.”
Check out Veach’s full comments on this in the video below.
Related: Travis Kelce, 35, May Not Be Retiring After All – Does He Have One More Season In Him?
Kelce Admits Chiefs Played ‘Bad’ During Super Bowl
Though Kelce never mentioned battling a “big illness,” he immediately after the Super Bowl that his team had not played well.
If you look at it one way – that Kelce himself didn’t use the illness as an excuse, it’s rather admirable.
“[We] couldn’t get it going offensively,” Kelce confessed in the locker room right after the defeat. “I mean, they just got after us on all three phases and then on top of that, you know, turnovers, penalties, playing behind the sticks on offense.”
“We haven’t played that bad all year,” he added. “You don’t lose like that without everything going bad.”
That being said, Kelce still praised his Chiefs teammates for “fighting until the end forever,” even when a win began to seem impossible, given the blowout score.
“Even with the score late, we were always gonna fight,” Kelce added. “We just couldn’t find that spark. We couldn’t find that momentum.”
Watch Kelce break it down after the game:
The Chiefs have given Kelce a deadline of March 14 to let them know whether or not he’ll play another season. If he really was fighting a “big illness” during the Super Bowl, it wouldn’t be surprising if Kelce decided to play one more season in the hopes of ending his career on a higher note.
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