Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce hates New England Patriots fans, and he isn’t afraid of letting them know it.
On a recent episode of the “New Heights” podcast he hosts with his brother, Jason Kelce, an offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles, the tight end discussed his frustration with Patriots fans.
“I’m not sure if it’s mutual, but I absolutely hate playing the Patriots,” Travis Kelce said.
Why does Travis Kelce hate Patriots fans?
Jason Kelce guessed the disdain was because Patriots fans consider his brother to be a knockoff version of former New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski.
But the tight end said he actually hates Patriots fans because of how they’ve treated his mom while she watched him play at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
“I’m mad at them calling out my mom in the stands,” he said. “Yo mama jokes are cool just when you say them to me, not my mom.”
He said their mom, Donna Kelce, has been heckled by Patriots fans while leaving New England’s stadium. He called it a “low blow.”
“Mom isn’t the only one that had a tough time,” he said. “A lot of people say they go into New England and just get a bad taste in their mouth about Patriots fans.”
The complicated relationship between Patriots fans and Chiefs players
In 2020, Travis Kelce appeared on Bleacher Report’s “The Lefkoe Show” and discussed the rivalry between the Patriots and Chiefs.
“Pats fans, for whatever reason, just hated me for being a white tight end wearing 87,” he said, according to NBC Sports. “Like, if I would have had on 84, none of this would have ever been talked about, but because I wore 87 (the same number as Gronkowski), all of a sudden the Pats nation absolutely hated me.”
Patriots fans’ animosity doesn’t just extend to Travis Kelce. In 2019, Brittany Mahomes, wife of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, said she was harassed by Patriots fans in Gillette Stadium while attending the game with her husband’s brother Jackson. She documented the experience on Twitter.
Mahomes alerted security and was moved away from the heckling fans to a suite.
“I’m here & these fans will never keep me away,” she said on Instagram, according to Business Insider. “Update: Gillette security came and got us, said we have cameras everywhere, and we have seen you getting harassed so we are gonna move you to a safe section.”
Travis Kelce won’t have an opportunity to use his hatred as extra motivation during the regular season this year. The only way the Chiefs will play the Patriots this season is in the playoffs.