Travis Kelce finds more success on the field when he can “get the juices going” — even if it means crossing a line with Tom Brady.
Kelce, 34, and “New Heights” cohost Jason Kelce discussed “the power of locker room material” during the Wednesday, October 11, episode of their podcast, which prompted Travis to recall one of his more awkward pregame interactions with an opposing team.
“I barked up the wrong tree one time,” he remembered. “Playoff game against Tom Brady [in] 2015, I think.”
Travis described how Brady, now 46, would often run down the sidelines to get his teammates “hyped” while they warmed up. “I mocked him a little bit,” he confessed. “And I could see him go from getting hyped with fans to looking at me and just, like, turning that switch on. Like, ‘Who the f–k is this young dude mocking me right now?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, s–t. Hope I didn’t just create a beast for the defense.’ I just poked the bear.”
He continued: “I felt it. … That’s not the guy you wanna poke. Learned that lesson real quick. Shout-out to Tom.”
Brady was still the New England Patriots quarterback at the time. He moved to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, defeating Travis and the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 Super Bowl before officially confirming his retirement earlier this year.
During their podcast, Travis and Jason were analyzing the New York Jets’ victory over the Denver Broncos after the teams faced off on Sunday, October 8, bringing their offseason drama to a head.
Broncos coach Sean Payton slammed his predecessor and current Jets’ offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett in July, claiming Hackett’s time with the Denver team was “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.” (Payton later apologized for his comments, noting that he could use “a little bit more filter” in his interviews.)
Travis and Jason, 35, both agreed that diss likely made a “big” difference in the energy before the teams took the field.
“Anything to get the juices going. When I’m playing for something more than just wins and losses … I start digging for s–t to, in my mind, create that monster or create that aggression and that focus,” Travis explained.
While he acknowledged that talking a little smack could be used to a team’s “advantage,” Jason noted that it’s not his style. “I try not to,” he admitted. “And it’s genuine. I don’t really hate on [anybody] anyways.”
