LAS VEGAS — In the first half of Super Bowl LVIII, before Patrick Mahomes put his Superman cape on to deny the 49ers of their first Lombardi Trophy in 29 years, Kansas City’s offense was stuck in the mud.
The 49ers earned a 10-0 lead and forced the Chiefs to punt on three of their first four possessions. Kansas City was frustrated, and no one fumed more than star tight end Travis Kelce.
Kelce, after a massive Isiah Pacheco fumble early in the second quarter, berated Andy Reid on the sidelines. The CBS broadcast caught the moment on camera, showing Kelce animatedly shouting and shoving his 65-year-old head coach.
“You guys saw that?” Kelce told ESPN after the Chiefs’ eventual 25-22 victory. “I’m going to keep it between us unless my ‘Mic’d Up’ tells the world. But I was just telling him how much I love him.”
Kelce was irate that he wasn’t on the field for the crucial red zone play. Right before Pacheco’s fumble, Mecole Hardman hauled in a beautiful 52-yard deep shot from Mahomes.
“He cheap-shotted me, but that’s all right,” Reid said postgame. “He was really coming over just to go ‘Just put me in, I’ll score, I’ll score.’ So that’s pretty much what it was. I love that. I mean, it’s not the first time, so, you know, I appreciate it.”
Hardman later caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime, sending red and yellow confetti falling from the Allegiant Stadium rafters. Mahomes claimed his third Super Bowl MVP in his sixth year as a starter, and Kelce kissed Taylor Swift, his mega-star girlfriend.
By then, the Chiefs had become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since the 2004-04 New England Patriots. The Kelce-Reid kerfuffle was well in the past.
“I got the greatest coach this game has ever seen,” Kelce said of Reid. “He’s unbelievable at not only dialing up plays and having everybody prepared, he’s one of the best leaders of men that I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s helped me a lot with that, with channeling that emotion, channeling that passion. I owe my entire career to that guy and being able to — how to control how emotional I get, and I just love him, man.”