Travis Kelce. Brooke Sutton/Getty Images
Travis Kelce was accused of bringing his freshly-honed acting skills to the football field during the AFC Championship game.
After Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes scored a rushing touchdown in the second quarter of the team’s Sunday, January 26 showdown against the Buffalo Bills, Kelce, 35, got in the face of Bills safety Damar Hamlin after he tackled Mahomes, 29, to the ground.
In response, Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips approached Kelce — who made his acting debut in 2024 on FX’s Grotesquerie — in the end zone and knocked Kelce in the head with his helmet.
“Travis Kelce knows how to get under your skin,” CBS analyst Tony Romo said on the broadcast. “And then Phillips comes in. He tries for the flop.”
Flop or not, Kelce’s theatrics were successful in drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty against Phillips. Kelce, meanwhile, made it out of the melee unscathed.
Romo, 44, a former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, certainly wasn’t the only one accusing Kelce of being dramatic during the scuffle.
“KELCE FLOPPED FOR THOSE 15 YARDS,” sports media personality Skip Bayless posted via X. “JUST BOGUS.”
Another viewer at home wrote via X, “No way Kelce just flopped after acting like he was tough and protecting his QB. 😂That’s just embarrassing.”
One fan even managed to bring Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, into the conversation. “Honestly I love Taylor, but Travis Kelce flopping after getting in a Bill’s player’s face gave me major ‘ick’ as the kids say,” the viewer shared via X.
The Chiefs won the game 32-29, earning the franchise another trip to the Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, February 9 at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome against the Philadelphia Eagles. Kansas City is on a quest to become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
Travis Kelce celebrated the Kansas City Chiefs’ nail-biting 2025 AFC Championship win over the Buffalo Bills by packing on the PDA with girlfriend Taylor Swift. In a video posted via X on Sunday, January 26 — right after Kelce helped the Chiefs reach a final score of 32-29 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri — […]
After the victory, Kelce was less than concerned about whatever controversy he may have caused during the game.
“I’m just excited,” Kelce told reporters. “”I’m happy for the guys that are doing this for the first time, trying to make it everything for them. But I know there’s bigger fish to fry and that’s the Philadelphia Eagles down there in New Orleans.”
Super Bowl LIX is a rematch of LVII in February 2023, when Kelce and the Chiefs defeated his older brother, Jason Kelce, and the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 at Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium.
“We know they’re gonna have a sour taste in their mouth from the last time we played them in the Super Bowl,” Travis continued. “That being said, we gotta go to work. We gotta go to work and make sure we’re ready to handle it.”
