Chiefs’ Travis Kelce has chance to do something that’s never been done in NFL history
Now in his seventh year as a starter, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is enjoying the finest season of what is already a star-studded career.
Kelce, who turned 31 last month, is on pace to set career highs in receptions (106), receiving yards (1,434) and touchdowns (11).
On Sunday, former Chiefs offensive lineman Jeff Allen tweeted: “Each year Travis Kelce proves he’s the (best) tight end in the game and the national media somehow makes it a debate. Been this way the last five years.”
The statistics through the first 11 weeks of the season back up that claim.
Kelce is among the league leaders in receptions (66, ninth most), receiving touchdowns (7, eighth), catches of 15 yards or more (24, first) and receiving yards (896, third). In the latter category, Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins is first (912 yards) and Bills receiver Stefon Diggs is second (906).
So Kelce is just 16 yards off the league lead, and if he finished the season atop the statistical category it would be a first in NFL history. No tight end has led the league in receiving yards.
Former Packers star Billy Howton (1952 and 1956) and Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch of the Rams (1951) are among the players listed as an “End” who were the NFL’s leading receiver for a season. But they are considered wide receivers.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame notes that when Mike Ditka was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1961 “he introduced a new dimension to the tight end position that once was viewed primarily as an assignment for a tough, talented blocker.”
Although Ditka revolutionized the position, a tight end has never been the league’s leader in receiving yardage.
In 2018, 49ers tight end George Kittle set the NFL record for receiving yards by a tight end (1,377), a number Kelce is on pace to eclipse. That season, Kittle finished eighth in the NFL in receiving yards, and Kelce was 10th (1,336).
Former Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow Sr. came close to leading the NFL in receiving yards in 1980. He finished second with 1,290 receiving yards, just 50 yards behind teammate John Jefferson. In the strike-shortened 1982 season, Winslow, the former Mizzou star, finished third in the league with 721 yards.
In 1967, Jackie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals finished third in the NFL (1,205 yards).
No tight end has finished in the top three since Winslow 38 years ago, although Kelce was fourth in receiving yards last season with 1,229.
Last month, I asked Kelce about his relationship with Patrick Mahomes.
“What Pat kind of brings to the table is he’s just a flat out playmaker,” Kelce said. “He can go in the backyard and make some plays that will wow you. Whether it is a structured game or it’s just you’re playing in the backyard, Pat has an ability to play this game in a very free and fun level.
“And sure enough everybody on the team knows that once he gets out of the pocket, it’s kind of a backyard feel. I think he has a great knack for getting in the head of his teammates and kind of anticipating what’s going to happen and where we’re going to be and you know the chemistry between the entire offense is just flowing right now.”
Kelce is really in the flow right now, and he has a chance to put his name in the NFL record book with six games remaining in the season.
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 11:36 AM.
