Travis Kelce was on the receiving end of significant backlash from NFL fans after being spotted in a t-shirt in support of suspended Kansas City Chiefs teammate Rashee Rice.

Rice was suspended for the first six games of the 2025 NFL season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. More on that in a minute.

Kelce and wide receiver Tyquan Thornton were seen sporting t-shirts before their game against the Philadelphia Eagles, which read “Free 4.”

Rice’s jersey number is 4.

Freedom won’t be coming for Rashee until at least late October, possibly being able to play in a game against the Las Vegas Raiders on the 19th. The Chiefs could use his offensive output, what with Kelce dropping balls and gift-wrapping games for their opponents.

Reaction to Kelce’s gesture was … uh … Swift.

Fans not happy with Travis Kelce’s Shirt

Fans who saw the “Free 4” t-shirts weren’t exactly thrilled with Travis or Tyquan. Why? First, because nobody needs to “free” Rashee since he accepted his suspension, knowing it could have been a lot worse.

Rice didn’t violate the league dress code. He wasn’t suspended for inhaling smelling salts. No, he was suspended for causing a car accident that left multiple people seriously injured, and could have killed them.

Rice was arrested over a high-speed car crash last year and was facing eight felony charges from the incident. He lost control of a rented Lamborghini while racing another sports car on a Dallas highway at speeds upwards of 119 MPH.

The resulting error triggered a six-vehicle chain-reaction crash that injured seven people, after which he fled the scene on foot without checking on the victims.

Rice later pleaded guilty to two felony charges—collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury—resulting in a 30-day jail sentence, five years of deferred probation, over $115,000 in restitution, and the aforementioned six-game suspension.

But yeah, Free 4. Honestly, the league should consider slapping Travis Kelce with a fine since he is suggesting the league is mistreating his teammate while downplaying the severity of his reckless behavior.

While the NFL isn’t on him for the t-shirt, fans certainly were.

“Just a plain bad and corny look,” one fan wrote on X. “What are we freeing? This isn’t just some personal drug use or whatever.”

Rice’s multiple Issues

Criticsm kept pouring in for Travis Kelce over the “Free 4” t-shirt.

“Free him from what? Consequences?” another fan wondered. “Caused a 6-car pile-up with multiple injuries, fled the scene, and got lucky nobody died.”

“The reason 4 isn’t free is because of his own stupidity. Come on,” one person quipped.

Rice was also accused, but not charged, of assaulting a person at a downtown Dallas nightclub at around 2:30 in the morning around that same time.

Reports also surfaced that Rice was involved in a gun incident during his time at Southern Methodist University (SMU). He was alleged to have “fired multiple bullets into the empty car” of SMU basketball player Kendric Davis, according to Pro Football Talk.

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