Travis Kelce arrived at Arrowhead Stadium ahead of a landmark appearance as the Kansas City Chiefs attempt to end a two-game losing streak.
The veteran tight end made his way through the stadium before Sunday’s matchup with the New York Jets in a navy-and-black bomber jacket, black trousers and sneakers. He completed the look with a baseball cap and sunglasses.
The game marks a significant milestone for the 37-year-old Kelce, who is set to play the 200th game of his NFL career after entering the league from the University of Cincinnati in 2013.
Kansas City is returning home for the first time since October 18, when the Chiefs comfortably defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 22-6.
The Chiefs opened the campaign with five consecutive victories, almost matching their entire win total from last season. That disappointing six-win year brought an abrupt end to the team’s run of three straight Super Bowl appearances.
However, Kansas City has since dropped back-to-back road games against the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, leaving the team eager to restore its winning form.
Travis Kelce arrived at Arrowhead for his 200th NFL appearance wearing a bomber jacket and sunglasses
It is still unclear whether Kelce’s wife, Taylor Swift, will be in attendance to mark the occasion.
The pop star has appeared to stop traveling to Kelce’s away games, but she has regularly watched him play at Arrowhead this season.
During her most recent visit, Swift appeared to tell a fan to stop recording her from the seats.
The 14-time Grammy winner seemed irritated by a woman sitting in the row directly in front of her suite during the Chargers game.
As the game continued, the woman turned around and pulled out her phone, apparently attempting to film Swift or take her picture.
Swift appeared to notice and gestured for the fan to stop recording and turn her attention back to the action on the field.
A man seated nearby, whom Swift’s online followers have identified as a possible member of her security team, then spoke to the woman and appeared to ask her to put away her phone and face the field.
Although Kelce has continued to contribute during the Chiefs’ first seven games, he has not reached the end zone since Week 3.
The three-time Super Bowl winner has recorded 29 receptions for 410 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Taylor Swift appeared frustrated after a fan tried to record her during her most recent Chiefs appearance
The Chiefs have lost their last two games after opening the season 5-0
Kelce offered a candid assessment of the officiating in Kansas City’s loss to Denver last week, directly contradicting Brittany Mahomes’s fierce criticism of the officials.
The Chiefs believed they had taken the lead with a game-winning touchdown when Patrick Mahomes connected with Rashee Rice in the end zone.
Instead, lineman Jaylon Moore was flagged for a false start. The penalty moved Kansas City back to the six-yard line, and Mahomes was then sacked on fourth down, allowing the Broncos to secure a dramatic 28-24 victory and hand the Chiefs their second defeat of the season.
Mahomes’s wife, Brittany, responded immediately on social media, launching an angry criticism of the officials to her 2.1 million followers.
‘You can’t tell me you call that on a game winning [touchdown],’ she wrote. ‘Oh wait yeah I can cause it’s us. That was the weakest call I have ever seen, you can’t tell me otherwise.’
On this week’s episode of the ‘New Heights’ podcast, Jason Kelce said: ‘A lot of people are saying this wasn’t a penalty; I’m going to go on record and say that this is definitely a penalty.’
Travis agreed, saying, ‘Yeah, he flinches,’ while also acknowledging that Kansas City still had an opportunity to win the game and failed to capitalize.
‘At the end of the day, we still had another play,’ Travis said. ‘I’ll take my guy Pat Mahomes on the six-yard line with the game on the line.
‘I’ll take that any day of the week. So we gotta execute at the end even more. We can’t let the penalty absolutely deflate us and not let us execute at the end of the game.’
Patrick Mahomes expressed a similar, though more measured, view after the game, suggesting that he was not entirely convinced by the call.
‘It couldn’t have been big, but it was called,’ Mahomes told reporters.
‘At the end of the day, you have to go with whatever is called, but a lot of times in those big moments, the little stuff doesn’t get called like that.’
