Travis Kelce is the NFL’s top tight end. And he was watching Monday Night Football when the Washington Commanders took down the NFL’s last unbeaten team, the Philadelphia Eagles, earlier this week.
Well, according to Kelce, he didn’t make it to the end of the game.
Why not?
With Washington leading 26-21, quarterback Taylor Heinicke lined up to take the snap on third-and-7 at the 50-yard line. The Eagles had one timeout remaining, so if they stopped the Commanders, they’d get the ball back deep in their own territory with around 1:30 remaining and no timeouts.
Heinicke takes the snap, looks for an open receiver downfield, sees nothing and wisely takes a knee instead of forcing the ball into coverage and making Philadelphia use its final timeout.
Two Eagles’ defenders converged on Heinicke, who had already given himself up. Philadelphia defensive end Brandon Graham made contact with Heinicke, which meant an automatic penalty. Heinicke knew it, too. And he was excited.
Graham was called for unnecessary roughness, giving Washington the first down and essentially ending the game.
Heinicke celebrated.
According to Kelce, seeing Heinicke celebrate led him to turn his television off.
Kelce said the following this week on his podcast, “New Heights.”
“I’ve never seen a quarterback get so excited because of a roughing the passer,” Kelce said. “That one I don’t know why it rubbed me the wrong way, man. I was just like ‘I’m out of here.’ I just turned the TV off when he got excited like that. I was like, ‘that is what we’re getting excited for, man.'”
Of course, you cut the TV off, Travis. Your brother plays for the Eagles. And he’s also the co-host of your podcast. You were upset his team lost. That makes sense.
So, you’re saying you’ll never ask for a pass interference flag again? And you won’t celebrate a flag giving your offense a first down? Come on.
Lastly, who cares.
You bet Heinicke was excited and almost any quarterback in his shoes would have been excited. Like Terry McLaurin has said multiple times, Heinicke plays every game — every play — like it’s his last. Two years ago at this time, he was done with football, finishing up his college degree and living off his sister’s couch.
Yeah, he was excited. So were Washington fans.
And if you think one flag — which was a legit penalty — was why Philadelphia lost the game, then you didn’t watch the first 58 minutes and 15 seconds. The Eagles would’ve still had to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown, which was far from a guarantee with how Washington’s defense was playing.
To Jason Kelce’s credit, he showed respect to the Commanders and Heinicke for how they played.
