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Mike Francesa said it would be “silly” for the Chiefs and head coach Andy Reid to not question Travis Kelce’s dedication to football while he’s “prancing around the globe” with his girlfriend Taylor Swift.
During the latest installment of the “Mike Francesa Podcast,” the host discussed how the Chiefs tight end’s performance has dramatically fallen off, and suggested he may be distracted by fame in his 12th NFL season.
“As an organization and as a coach, you would have to question how dedicated Kelce is to the sport right now,” Francesa said. “He has a lot going on in his life. His life has taken a radical change. You see him in commercials, you see him in photo ops, you see him now very conscious of how he’s dressed… and where the paparazzi are and everything else.
“It changed his life. And you wonder, where does football and where does football preparation enter into that.”
Kelce and Swift, both 34, started dating last summer, and went public with their relationship when they stepped out together holding hands in New York City in October.
Since then, Kelce has starred in a number of commercials and landed television gigs, as well as the cover of WSJ. Magazine. He’s set to host the forthcoming series “Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?” on Amazon.
But Kelce hasn’t been as successful on the field to start the 2024 NFL season.
He now has eight catches for 69 yards and zero touchdowns heading into Week 4.
“When you see safeties strip the ball out of his hands in big spots, when you see listless pattern running from him, when you see him be a non-factor game after game, which is puzzling — but again, how much of that is on him?” Francesa said.
“How much of that is on his preparation and dedication? And it is fair to bring that full circle and to mention that?”
“… Clearly at this stage of his career, you wonder where he is in his dedication, in his preparation, because his performance has fallen off dramatically. And it’s not just, ‘oh the Chiefs are going away from Kelce.’ It’s more than that.
“… It’s extremely human. His life has changed. He’s now prancing around the globe with one of the most famous people in the world. His life is a photo op.”
Francesa went on to explain that the Chiefs star’s big brother Jason Kelce waited until after his NFL retirement in March to focus on his opportunities off of the field.
In August, the brothers signed a $100 million deal with Amazon to house their “New Heights” podcast.
“What he’s got on is a topic of conversation. He’s doing commercials with his brother who is no longer in the sport. His brother now can worry about being a personality and doing commercials and appearances and the podcast because he’s not playing anymore,” Francesa said.
“But nobody expected [Travis] Kelce to not play anymore. And right now, he’s not playing worth a damn and it just brings up very legitimate questions.”
Francesa added that it “would be crazy” to think Kelce’s life off of the field hasn’t impacted his game, although he’s not close enough to the situation to know for sure.
“But how much does that mean to the Chiefs who just continue to find a way [to win close games against the Ravens and Bengals],” he said.
Kelce was barely a factor in the Chiefs’ third straight win to start the season.
The three-time Super Bowl champ, who was limited in the passing game in Kansas City’s first two wins, finished with four catches on five targets for 30 yards in the Chiefs’ 22-17 victory over the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday night.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who is Kelce’s best friend off the field, explained that the nine-time Pro Bowler hasn’t been open as much because teams are emphasizing their coverage on Kelce.
“It’s crazy because teams still — the respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal. It’s well-deserved,” Mahomes said after Sunday’s win over Atlanta. “We’re calling a lot of plays for Travis and it’s like two or three people are going to him. He understands — that’s the great thing about him is he wants to make an impact on the game but he wants to win at the end of the day.
“I’m gonna try to do my best to keep feeding him the ball whenever he’s there, whenever he’s open. I think the more [second-year wideout] Rashee [Rice] makes plays, the more we’re able to run the football, the more we can get [receiver Xavier] Worthy involved, I think that’s going to open Travis up more. People are really emphasizing trying to take him away and that’s getting other guys open.”
Kelce also addressed his slow start on his “New Heights” podcast following Week 2.
“I used to get really, really pissed off and almost lose my cool a lot of the time from not having that success knowing that I demand that out of myself and I just like to play the game to such a high level of accountability that it’s just tough for me to deal with being mediocre or having stats that represent that,” Kelce said last Wednesday.
“For whatever reason, these past two games it hasn’t gone that way for me and that’s football, man. I’m not about to sit here and get frustrated about it.”
Kelce agreed to a contract extension with the Chiefs in April through 2025 that will make him the NFL’s highest-paid tight end.
The deal is a two-year tack-on to his current deal for $34.25 million, according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero.
The Chiefs (3-0) face the Chargers (2-1) in Los Angeles on Sept. 29.
