Travis Kelce made an awful play in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs' loss to the Eagles on Sunday.
The Kansas City tight end made an even worse play before the team's home opener.
Kelce and teammate Tyquan Thornton wore shirts during pregame warmups calling to "free" teammate Rashee Rice.
Rice, the Chiefs' third-year wide receiver, is suspended for the first six games of the season after he pleaded guilty to two felony charges related to a car crash in July that left several people injured. Rice caused the six-car crash in Dallas in March 2024 from street racing, and he later fled the scene.
In July, he was sentenced to five years' probation and 30 days in jail. According to reports, the NFL sought at least a 10-game suspension for violating its personal conduct policy, before the league and Rice ultimately settled on six.
Did players in the league learn nothing from Henry Ruggs III? In 2021, a car driven by Ruggs III rear-ended a 23-year-old woman while going 156 mph. The woman and her dog both burned to death in their car. Ruggs pleaded guilty to one count of felony DUI resulting in death and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and still remains in prison.
Rice should consider himself immensely fortunate that no one died as a result of his reckless street racing.
But then, for Chiefs players to wear shirts calling on the NFL to lift Rice's suspension ... that's classless on so many levels.
Especially for Kelce, who might be the most recognizable NFL player in the world, especially to non-football fans. Giving his platform to Rice is frankly irresponsible.
There are two options for interpreting Kelce's actions here. He is either uninformed of the totality of the circumstances, which would make him negligently ignorant — and I don't believe this is the case. Or he simply doesn't care of the consequences of Rice's crime and wants to win football games, which makes him complicit in Rice's disregard for the safety of others and just as selfish.
I will never understand how athletes fail to recognize their social impact. Even if they don't want to be role models, they are. That's part of the price that comes with their job.
And for Kelce to not grasp the magnitude of his words and actions, given the platform he has both in media and simply as Taylor Swift's fiancé, is asinine to the 'nth degree.
Kelce, who had a key drop at the goal line Sunday that resulted in an interception that helped seal the Chiefs' loss, won't be suspended for this, but he should make a public apology to the victims of Rice's reckless actions.
His actions Sunday were terribly insensitive.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.