When Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce played his first game on offense in his second season in the NFL, he was the victim of a “welcome to the NFL” hit by former Tennessee Titans defensive back, Bernard Pollard.
Pollard was reflecting on some of the better plays of his career on social media last week, which prompted Kelce to remind him that Pollard had popped him in Week 1 of the 2014 campaign.
Prior to his back-and-forth with Pollard on Twitter, Kelce spoke about the aforementioned play in an article for The Players’ Tribune back in 2016.
You welcomed me into the league with one of these hits my first game man 😂😂😂 https://t.co/9NhB9i94Nz
— Travis Kelce (@tkelce) July 14, 2022
😂😂😂 I know I never ran a slant like that ever again
— Travis Kelce (@tkelce) July 14, 2022
Here’s a look at the play Pollard and Kelce are referencing.
In case you were wondering why I was watching the 2014 #Chiefs offense last Friday. . . It was because I wanted to seek out this gem of a play. Former #Chiefs S Bernard Pollard Jr. gave Travis Kelce his "Welcome to the NFL" moment in Week 1 (he played for the #Titans that year): pic.twitter.com/nCrLw3wwvY
— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) July 18, 2022
“Well, my first NFL game was against the Titans, and I came out of the gate hot,” Kelce recalled. “Made my first catch. Incredible feeling, really. Then, two plays later it looked like I was about to make my second catch. I was running a slant across the middle of the field. I knew that was my assignment. You know who else knew that was my assignment? Bernard Pollard, one of the hardest hitting safeties in the NFL. As soon as I caught the ball, I was looking upfield and Bernard absolutely leveled me. Put his helmet right in my sternum. I was flat on my back and the ball popped out. Fortunately it was just ruled an incompletion rather than a fumble, but I got the point. You have to really get rocked like that a few times to develop the senses you need to avoid the big shots. Once you really get popped, you don’t want it to happen again. I mean, it will, but you don’t want it to.”
Tennessee went on to lose that game, 26-10, and Kelce reeled in three catches for 49 yards in the winning effort. Meanwhile, Pollard would play in just four more games the rest of the season before landing on injured reserve.
