LAS VEGAS -- Football's favorite power couple certainly had a super week.
Travis Kelce began Super Bowl week noting that he had to match girlfriend Taylor Swift's record-setting Grammy win by bringing home "some hardware too."
Then the star tight end went out and helped the Kansas City Chiefs to their third Super Bowl victory in five seasons, becoming the first back-to-back Lombardi lifters since the 2003-04 New England Patriots, with a 25-22 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
After the win, Kelce was asked if anyone's had a better week than he and Swift.
"On top of the world right now, baby," Kelce said. "It's a good feeling."
Kelce wasn't exactly feeling good early in the contest. The tight end got off to a slow start, catching just one pass for one lousy yard in the first half. CBS cameras caught the fired-up Kelce appearing miffed at Andy Reid at one point, nearly running over the Chiefs head coach on the sideline at Allegiant Stadium.
Both Kelce and Reid dismissed the incident.
"He's emotional every game. I get it, listen I have five kids, so I get how that goes," Reid quipped after the game. "The part I love is he loves to play the game, and he wants to help his team win. It's not a selfish thing -- that's not what it is, and I understand that. So, as much as he bumps into me, I get after him, and we understand that. He just caught me off balance."
Kelce noted that Reid's personality helped him settle into the game after the slow start.
"I've got the greatest coach this game has ever seen," he said. "He's unbelievable at not only dialing up plays and having everybody prepared, but he's one of the best leaders of men I have ever seen in my life. He's helped me a lot with that. With channeling that emotion, channeling that passion. And I owe my entire career to that guy. To be able to kind of control how emotional I get. I just love him."
Kelce kicked it into gear in the second half, earning a team-high nine catches for 93 yards, helping spearhead an epic comeback. His sensational run-after catch on a 22-yard crosser -- in which he hit a personal seven-year speed high of 19.68 mph, per Next Gen Stats -- set up the game-tying field goal to force overtime. In OT, the TE caught a seven-yard pass and nearly bulldozed his way to the end zone before getting taken down at the 3-yard-line. Patrick Mahomes called game the next play with a pass to a wide-open Mecole Hardman, with Kelce help drawing away coverage.
Now Kelce, Mahomes, Reid, and the rest of the Chiefs will chase a three-peat in 2024.
"We get a chance to do it three times in a row. How do you (not) get excited for that, baby?" Kelce said at the on-field podium during the CBS broadcast. "... I'll see y'all next year.'
