This Catching Kelce catch gets rejected ‘by those guys in New York’

Somebody working the replays at the NFL office in New York has it out for Chiefs tight end and reality dating television star Travis Kelce. He’s convinced of it.

And Kelce thinks he knows why.

“Something about those guys in New York,” Kelce said. “They don’t like me or something. I voted off the girl from New York the first episode, so that might be it.”

Just as Kelce decides who remains for another episode of Catching Kelce and who departs, replay officials gave him a thumb’s down on a play in the third quarter of the Chiefs’ 30-14 victory over the Colts.

Kelce made an adjustment on a deep pass from Nick Foles and hauled in the ball, tight-roping the sideline before falling out of bounds on what was originally ruled a 37-yard reception. The Chiefs, leading by 10 at the time, had the ball at the 1.

Colts coach Chuck Pagano tossed his red challenge hanky in dispute, and after a replay review, the call was overturned. Incomplete pass.

Kelce couldn’t believe it and didn’t get a response from the crew led by referee Craig Wrolstad.

“They said it was out of (their) hands,” Kelce said. “That, ‘It looked like it a catch to us. Heck, you guys are running the show. It’s your field.’ They should have a common-sense clause.

“Everyone in the world says that’s a catch except the guys in New York.”

In the grand scheme, the call didn’t matter, although there was some short-term impact. Instead of first and goal at the 1, the Chiefs faced third-and-6 at the 38 and Foles was sacked on the next snap

But if momentum had shifted briefly, it pivoted right back to the Chiefs, who held the Colts to a three-and-out on the next series.

As for Kelce, he lost one catch but found plenty of others on his most productive day of the season. He hauled in a season-best seven receptions to lead the team Sunday, and produced 101 yards for the third 100-yard game of his career.

Kelce was integral early. The Chiefs opened the game with a pair of incomplete passes before Kelce dragged across the middle for a 19-yard gain. There were also receptions of 11 and 15 yards on the series that ended with a Cairo Santos field goal.

Early in the second quarter, after Alex Smith had left the game the first time for concussion evaluation, Kelce hauled in Foles pass over the middle in the end zone for his third touchdown reception of the season, giving the Chiefs a 10-lead.

Kelce said no matter the quarterback — Smith left the game twice because of hits to the head — the offense didn’t miss a beat.

“That’s obviously the hardest position to have somebody come in and just start rolling,” Kelce said. “He (Foles) doesn’t get as many snaps as Alex does throughout the week. I think he went in there and absolutely played his tail off.

“We told him when we got in the huddle, ‘Just go out there and be you. We’ve got your back. You got 10 guys out there making things work for you.’ ”

But not the replay officials, at least when it came to Kelce.

“When I finally had control of the ball, I extended it to the goal line,” Kelce said. “I’ve got to hold on to the ball and can’t give the refs, the guys in New York, a chance to overturn it.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "This Catching Kelce catch gets rejected ‘by those guys in New York’."