Travis Kelce may have grown up in quiet Ohio, but he and his brother Jason were anything but quiet. Their wild, loud attitudes clearly translated to the football field as well. Especially for Travis.
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He’s a big, clumsy-looking white guy, but Kelce showed early in his career he could move pretty well, especially when he was dancing in the end zone. He was flamboyant and fun. Even during pregames, he would be a little more jacked up than most teammates and opponents.
Except for Tom Brady. During the pregame warmups before Kelce and the Chiefs took on Brady’s New England Patriots in the 2015 AFC Divisional Playoffs, Brady was seen excitedly bouncing up the Patriots sideline, pumping his fist, and generally just getting jacked up. Kelce was right there and noticeably mocked Brady by doing something similar right in his face. But… as he often did during his NFL career, Brady got the last laugh.
Brady wasted no time opening the scoring, tossing a TD to Rob Gronkowski less than five minutes in. The Chiefs, who were being led by Alex Smith at that time, responded with a field goal. Later in the second quarter, it was Brady soaring for the pylon in an attempt to run one in to make it 14-3. He fell just short but punched it in from the one on the next play. Again, the Chiefs responded with a field goal.
And again, Brady followed a Chiefs field goal with a Pats TD, this time a 16-yard toss to Gronkowski to make it 21-6. Smith threw a TD to make it 21-13 late in the third, but a couple more Patriots field goals made it 27-13 late in the fourth. K.C. would score a TD in garbage time to make the score look a little bit more respectable, but Brady had clearly gotten his revenge on Kelce, who had one of his quietest playoff games ever.
When Travis Kelce MOCKED Tom Brady pregame, only for TB12 to proceed to humiliate the Chiefs.
There will never be another GOAT 🐐 pic.twitter.com/2nJ77yQJ1V
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 28, 2025
It was the first time Kelce had been stifled by Bill Belichick’s defensive scheme, but it wouldn’t be the last.
After going for just six receptions and 23 yards in that 2015 Divisional Game, he followed that up in the 2018 AFC Championship (now with Mahomes at the controls) with another 23-yard day. This time he did it on three receptions and added a TD, though. Needless to say, the Chiefs lost both games.
What makes those two Travis Kelce playoff duds even more impressive for Brady, Belichick, and the Patriots is how good Kelce has been against every other team in the postseason.
He has played 25 playoff games, and only six times has he had under 50 yards, two of which came in this past year’s playoffs. Apart from those Patriots games, the only other time Kelce went below 25 yards in a playoff game was last year against the Bills.
Otherwise, Kelce’s basically unstoppable once the calendar hits January. His 178 playoff receptions are an NFL record, and his 2,078 yards and 20 TDs rank second only to Jerry Rice. So in the end, Kelce turned into one of the great postseason performers, but he had to get a lesson in humility from the GOAT before he did.
