Tom Brady Defends Travis Kelce For Heated Sideline Spat With Andy Reid in Super Bowl
Leave it to the GOAT to take Travis Kelce’s side over a fiery moment during Super Bowl LVIII.
Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady downplayed the Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s heated sideline argument with coach Andy Reid on Sunday and explained why Kelce doesn’t deserve any criticism.
[Buy now! Relive Super Bowl LVIII with Sports Illustrated’s commemorative issue]
Brady, who has had his fair share of sideline blow-ups in his 23-year NFL career, called the Kelce–Reid spat just a “little family issue.”
“There’s always little family issues and of course I don’t mind seeing it because I was a part of a lot of those things,” Brady said on his Let’s Go! podcast. “Emotions are so high. You are definitely not centered and balanced. You’re not in a meditative state at that point. You are fully determined to go out there and to win. So I think a lot of the things that are said during the games, people should just let them fly off their back.”
Tom Brady had plenty of heated sideline moments during his legendary career with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports
After footage of Kelce bumping into Reid went viral, many on X (formerly known as Twitter) aired their complaints about Kelce’s inappropriate and disrespectful behavior.
Brady, however, doesn’t see it that way, and the New England Patriots legend paid a sweet compliment to Coach Reid for handling the moment perfectly.
“I actually think Coach Reid handled it just awesome, like he always does,” continued Brady. “And I love that because it just speaks to his leadership ability. … He doesn’t look at that and feel like someone offended him. He takes it for what it is and doesn’t make it more than it is and doesn’t see someone’s trying to belittle him. Travis is not trying to do any of those things. He’s just trying to be fired up and stay in the moment.”
In Sunday’s 25–22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Kelce appeared to be upset about being left off the field during a Chiefs red zone play early in the game, prompting his outburst.
Hours later, Reid laughed it off and said in a postgame interview, “[Kelce] caught me off balance. I got this fake hip and he caught me off balance. The guy makes me feel young. He’s been with us longer than anybody. He’s a seasoned veteran.”
As one seasoned veteran to another, Brady has absolved Kelce of any wrongdoing in that situation. It was nothing but an emotional sideline flare-up—and a legendary meme.
