Tom Brady defends Travis Kelce over Super Bowl outburst

Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce drew some criticism for his outburst toward Andy Reid in the Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, but the man who has competed in and won more of those games than any other player had no issue with it.

Kelce was furious that he was not on the field when the Chiefs lost a red-zone fumble early in their 25-22 Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers. The tight end was so emotional that he screamed at Reid and made physical contact with the coach, causing Reid to stumble. You can see the video here.

Tom Brady shared his thoughts on the incident during the latest episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast. The seven-time Super Bowl champion said he had no problem with Kelce’s behavior and that there are “always little family issues” with teams.

“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,” Brady said, as transcribed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “So I think a lot of the things that are said during the games, people should just let them fly off their back.”

Reid also downplayed Kelce’s outburst and joked that Kelce caught him off-balance. Brady said he thought it was “just awesome” how Reid handled the situation.

“It speaks to the self-confidence that Coach Reid has in himself, too, because he doesn’t take that personally at all,” Brady added. “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 (it as) 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.”

Larry Fitzgerald, who hosts the “Let’s Go!” podcast with Brady, also shrugged the incident off. The former star wide receiver said the emotions are difficult for fans to understand “because most people have never competed at this stage.”

Jim Gray: How come fans make (Kelce-Reid bump) into something it’s not

Larry Fitzgerald “Because most people have never competed at this stage. They have nothing to compare it to”

Tom Brady “They don’t understand context. I’ve been heated a lot. The coaches and players move on”

— Jason Anderson (@J810Anderson) February 13, 2024

The thing that really made Kelce look bad is that he bumped Reid and almost caused the 65-year-old to fall over. Even Brady was seen screaming at coaches on the sideline during his legendary career, but the physical contact is what crossed the line.

But as they say, all is well that ends well. Kelce had a huge second half and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl — again. That made the questions about the outburst a lot easier for Kelce and company to field.