Travis and Jason Kelce dove headfirst into the enraged Super Bowl sideline confrontation heard around the world.
When the brother-to-brother dialogue was over, it was clearer than ever that Travis knows he crossed the line when he almost knocked over 65-year-old Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid in Super Bowl LVIII.
But Travis’ screaming intensity was filled with mutual respect, while his older brother Travis put the whole viral confrontation in human perspective.
“You don’t become the best tight end in the world by being a f****** reasonable, level-headed f****** person,” Jason said on the latest New Heights episode. “That’s not how if f****** works, all right? You be the best in the world by being a f****** insane human being! That’s the reality. That’s how it happens.”
The brothers began their post-Super Bowl podcast by breaking down the first half screaming match, which was completely one-sided and all Travis while Kansas City trailed the San Francisco 49ers.
“You caught Big Red off guard a little bit,” Jason said.
“As he said, I got him with a cheap shot,” Travis replied. “People are all over this and I get it. I went … “
“You went — you crossed the line,” Jason said. “I think we can both agree on that.”
“I did. I can’t get that fired up to the point where I’m bumping coach and it’s getting him off balance and stuff,” Travis said. “When he stumbled, I’m just like, ‘Oh s***,’ in my head.”
“Let’s be honest: The yelling in his face, too, is over the top,” Jason said. “I think there’s better ways to handle this, retrospectively.”
“Yeah. I know,” Travis said. “I’m a passionate guy. I love coach Reid. Coach Reid knows how much I love to play for him, how much I love to be a product of his coaching career. I’m not playing for anybody else but Big Red. If he calls it quits this year, I’m out there with him, man.”
Taylor Swift’s boyfriend then revealed that the Chiefs’ first-half struggles set up his over-the-line outburst, which some fans condemned on social media.
While Kansas City tried to get back in the game, critics insisted that Travis should be stuck on the bench.
“I just wanted to let him know that I wanted this thing and he can put it on me — I got him,” Travis said. “It just came at a moment where we weren’t playing very well, I wasn’t playing very well. We had to get some s*** going. Sometimes those emotions get away from you, man. That’s been the battle of my career.”
The conversation between the brothers then changed, with Travis saying that he was tired of people not involved in the situation dictating how it should have been handled from afar.
“Everybody else, I don’t give a s*** what anybody else says,” Travis said. “I talked to coach Reid about it today and we kind of chuckled about it. And I couldn’t be more proud of being his product on the field, and I couldn’t be more proud of where we’ve come as a team since I got here in 2013.
“I just love playing for the guy, man, and unfortunately sometimes my passion comes out where it looks like it’s negativity, but I’m grateful that he knows it’s all because I want to win this thing with him.”
“He knows that,” Jason said. “You didn’t try and push him. You ran up on him … it was accidental that you hit him that hard. I know that. You came off hot because you were p***** off. It doesn’t look great, obviously. The optics of it look really bad. But nobody knows your and Big Red’s relationship.”
Jason added: “I just love when people who don’t have anything to f****** to do with the situation get all riled up. Like, they’re offended. Not the guy that actually was involved with it. The people that don’t know what your two’s relationship are.”
The older Kelce brother then revealed one of the biggest problems with being a Kelce.
“One of our greatest downsides is that we’re not great at controlling our emotions,” Jason said. “It’s something that I truly wish we were better at.”
The veteran Philadelphia Eagles lineman then referenced his own confrontation with coach Nick Sirianni.
“The reason this happens is because you guys have so much respect for each other,” Jason said.
After Travis revealed that he used to have intense confrontations with former Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, the Super Bowl-winning tight end said Kansas City’s head coach had every right to take him down to the ground before a worldwide TV audience.
“If he would have clocked me in the face right there, I would have deserved it,” Travis said. “I would have just ate it and been like, ‘Yeah, let’s f****** go!’ “
He added: “Man, it just fired me up even more to go out there and get a f****** victory for him, man, because that’s how much I love that dude.”
Then Travis apologized one more time to the head coach that he loves more than ever.
“Big Red, sorry if I caught you with that cheap shot, baby,” Travis said.