One of the biggest turnaround moments in this year’s Super Bowl stemmed from Travis Kelce’s second-half exploits against the 49ers. His multiple crucial catches and offensive runs changed the course of the game and helped his team clinch yet another Super Bowl victory. Kelce’s versatility shone yet again in the final, leaving many wondering how he manages to understand the game’s intricacies so well. The answer is simple – his willingness to involve himself in every specialised training activity.
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What makes Travis Kelce stand out from his peers is his incredible versatility. The three-time Super Bowl winner is not just a pass-catching TE, he is also an elite WR. Travis can also effortlessly run plays per the situation, essaying an offensive tackle’s role.
In short-yardage situations, he can even block like OL’s too! Safe to say, Travis Kelce is the complete package. But this doesn’t come naturally to him. In the latest episode of the New Heights Podcast, Travis revealed that his versatility stems from his immense attention to all the advice that the coaches do not pertain to him.
The TE shared that his curiosity and open ears make him pay attention to even offensive line coach Heck. The primary reason why Travis does this is because he does not want to fail on the off chance of being asked to play in the position.
“You just be open ears and [hear] how everything’s being taught to everybody in the room right? Like I’m listening to Coach Reed talk to the running backs about you know foot placement in the run game or I’m listening to Coach Heck and how he’s teaching these tackles pull or how he’s teaching these tackles how to square up a guy in the pass game like I’m listening to everybody because I know that there’s always a chance that I’m going to be put in a position like that and I want to be ready for it…”
Another reason for Travis’ insatiable curiosity is that he wants to learn all the game’s intricacies to know the grand scheme of things. Only a holistic understanding of the game will help a player be versatile, believed Kelce.
“As long as you’re open ears and you’re understanding like the grand scheme of things and what the team is trying to do, I think it’s like you said you’ll learn those little intricacies of like the difference like of like running a route versus a certain coverage. You’re naturally just going to develop that.”
Jason and Travis Kelce Emphasize Holistic Learning Of The Game
As the popular adage goes, “When you understand the game, you don’t panic.” Jason is a firm believer in this philosophy in football. In the latest New Heights episode, Jason shared that the rookies today must have a holistic understanding of the game to play better. With the game improving tactically every day, players need to know the game inside out to make changes on the go. This spontaneous burst of intent will only come if they know what the entire game structure is all about.
“My biggest advice to all the rookies learning these plays and learning your playbooks for specific plays is to try not to learn your job. Try to really think of the play as a concept and understand what’s happening… Like I am going to step with my playside foot but if the center calls this combo, I’m running that one. If the tackle needs help, I’m going to indicate his inside. Like you need to think about what is happening in the overall structure of the play and that will help you regardless of what the fu*king Playbook says.”
Travis Kelce also agreed with Jason’s advice and delved into it further. The TE shared his personal act experience and said that his first instinct is always to follow the coach’s route strategy. But the game never goes as planned. So Travis also has every single route etched in his mind giving him the ability to pivot and improvise on the go.
“I’m running it exactly like the paper just so we can get timing. [So] I can feel what the timing feels like of me running, hitting the break or like you know getting to a certain part of the field as the quarterbacks are getting ready to deliver… [However] in my mind every single route has to change depending on what coverage we’re running it against…”
All said, the advice from the Kelce brothers on spontaneity and the importance of a holistic understanding of the game is gold. Here’s hoping this goldmine of advice reaches the right ears as intended by the Kelce brothers.
