Travis Kelce and Tom Brady shared behind-the-scenes stories about Tyreek Hill
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tom Brady appeared on The New Heights podcast season finale with Travis and Jason Kelce.
- Travis Kelce described Tyreek Hill’s immediate impact in Chiefs OTAs and practices.
- Bill Belichick adjusted Patriots defensive calls to double Tyreek Hill after a big game.
The New Heights podcast from Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his big brother, Jason, has featured a number of Hollywood stars over the past year, along with one notable singer (Taylor Swift).
But for sports fans, the podcast is its best when football players are invited.
In the season finale, which was released Wednesday, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady joined the show. He shared about when Randy Moss joined the Patriots. Brady talked about what a great receiver Moss was, and Jason Kelce mentioned DeSean Jackson when they played for the Eagles.
Travis Kelce followed by praising former Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill.
“He didn’t have that stride that the two we were just talking about, DeSean and Randy Moss, but his ability to find the ball and to meet it down is second to none too,” Kelce said.
Brady then asked if Kelce had a favorite story about Hill. Kelce shared a little behind-the-scenes tale of the immediate impact Hill made at Chiefs practice.
The Chiefs selected Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Kelce was going into his fourth season with the Chiefs.
“It’s insane ... the first day we got him, it was like a little seven-on-seven in OTAs, and he caught like just like a flat route, like it was like a bubble-slant RPO, and he was the bubble. He caught the bubble, nobody got within two arms length of him. He just ran down the sideline, and I’m just sitting here like we just got the most electric player in the draft,” Kelce said laughing.
“It was insane, dog, and you already know a lot of the practice reps (are) just like what you were saying. Just testing out how far a quarterback can throw it. Like, we can connect down field if he can track it. And seeing the plays that him and (Patrick) Mahomes would make in OTAs or in training camp, and just testing the waters to see how far we could go. I mean, it’s insane.”
Fans saw that in the preseason game when Mahomes and Hill connected on a 69-yard bomb.
Brady recalled how former Patriots coach Bill Belichick changed his defense because of Hill.
“So we play you guys one year,” Brady said of the Chiefs, “and Bill was like, ‘All right, the calls on third down are one double Travis, one double 87.’ And we didn’t double Tyreek, and Tyreek went for like 200-plus that game, and you guys beat us. And Bill came in the next day, says, ‘We’re doubling Tyreek, we’re not gonna let him go for 200 on us.’
“So it was like back and forth on third down, who we’re doubling. And it’s kind of cool for us, because you do see, most NFL players are obviously supremely talented, and then every once in a while you see someone who is just a little more talented than everybody else, and you go, ‘Man, that is a special talent, that’s crazy.’”
This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 10:53 AM.
