Travis Kelce says he deserved to be punched after Super Bowl outburst at Reid

Travis Kelce vents his frustration at Andy Reid during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the San Francisco 49ers. Photograph: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Travis Kelce says his confrontation with Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid during Sunday’s Super Bowl was “definitely unacceptable”.

Kelce barged into Reid after being taken out of the game in the first-half as the Chiefs’ offense failed to make headway against the San Francisco 49ers. The confrontation caused the 65-year-old Reid to stumble as the tight end yelled at him. Kelce was criticized over the incident and initially joked that: “I was just telling [Reid] how much I love him.”

But in Wednesday’s edition of the New Heights podcast he co-hosts with his brother, Jason, Kelce was contrite.

“I can’t get that fired up to the point where bumping Coach and it’s getting him off balance and stuff. When he stumbled, I was like: ‘Aw, shit’ in my head.”

Reid downplayed the incident after the game, which the Chiefs won in overtime to secure their third title in five seasons.

“He was emotional today,” Reid said. “I’ve got five kids, and I know how that goes. The part that I love is that he loves to play the game, and he wants to help his team win.”

Kelce has played for Reid for his entire professional career, and said he yelled at his coach after becoming frustrated at his team’s performance.

“It just came in a moment where we weren’t playing very well. I wasn’t playing very well and we had to get some shit going,” he said. “Sometimes, those emotions get away from me, man. That’s been the battle of my career, but, everybody else, I don’t give a shit what anybody else says. I talked to Coach Reid about it today and we kind of chuckled about it. I couldn’t be more proud of being his product on the field, and I couldn’t be more proud of where we’ve come as a team since I got here in 2013.”

The 34-year-old added that Reid would have been within his rights to respond with anger.

“I deserve it. If he would have cold cocked me in the face right there, I would have just ate it. I would have been like: ‘Let’s fucking go’,” he said.

Kelce had been under intense scrutiny coming into the game: his relationship with Taylor Swift has brought him worldwide fame. He also improved his play after the outburst and finished led the Chiefs in receiving yards with 93.