Travis Kelce patiently dodged three questions about Taylor Swift, Patrick Mahomes spoke highly of Tyreek Hill and Andy Reid gave his answer on world peace.
Yes, the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are finally in Frankfort ahead of Sunday’s powder keg matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
While Kelce and Co. are nearly 5,000 miles away from Arrowhead, the interrogation about his relationship with the 12-time Grammy Award-winning singer continued unabashedly.
The first spotted the tight end — who has set an NFL record for seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons — and asked if he felt like a better player when Swift was in the stands
“I think it’s pretty much a coincidence. “I’ve had some pretty big games in my career,” Kelce said.
The second was a diptych: What is the latest status and are you in love?
“Latest status is I saw her last week. That’s the latest status,” Kelce said. “I’m going to keep my personal relationship personal.”
Travis Kelce patiently rejected three questions about Taylor Swift in Frankfurt on Friday
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce dine at Waverly Inn in New York on October 15
And finally, will Swift be there, since she’s performing in Buenos Aires on Thursday?
“You know what… I think when I say if everyone knows they’re in, the over/under of my catches goes up and down a little bit,” Kelce said. ‘The spread goes up and down. So you know I don’t want to mess with that kind of thing. So I just keep it to myself.”
While the Dolphins have been in Germany since Tuesday, the Chiefs’ eight-hour flight was slightly delayed and the team arrived at 9:59 a.m.
After a brief tour of the DFB Campus – the ultra-modern headquarters of the German Football Federation – blue-eyed players stood in front of a packed press room.
One of the stories from the game involved a player who no longer wears the Chiefs uniform. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill was drafted by Kansas City in 2016 but was traded to Miami last year.
Patrick Mahomes spoke positively about former teammate Tyreek Hill, who is now a Dolphin
On Thursday, Hill gave his former teammates something to think about on the flight there.
‘It doesn’t really matter where we play. They will get this work anywhere. You guys would rather get that bulletin board material,” he said.
In response, Kelce said dryly, “Tyreek is a funny guy, man. He’s a nice guy. He likes it when you say his piece. He’s always been that way, even when he was playing basketball in the Kansas City locker room, you know, and I’ve seen him lose a lot of those games. I’ll leave it at that.
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill previously won a title with Kansas City
“He gets a team that is ready to fight and perform in all four quarters. If it has to go to OT, then it has to. I know we are ready and it will be a great match for everyone watching in Germany.”
Poster boy Mahomes talked about partnerships and a desire to return to Germany this offseason. But he was less confrontational about confronting Hill.
“It’s going to be cool. And that’s my brother. I mean, with everything else going on, we built a great relationship over the years when we were in Kansas City. We still talk every now and then.”
Hill leads the league with 1,014 receiving yards and is on pace to become the first receiver to top 2,000 receiving yards in a season.
“He’s had a great last couple of seasons and it will be a big challenge for our defense,” Mahomes added.
What the Chiefs would give for that kind of production. Their wideouts are 18th in the league in catches (94) and 14th in yards (1,185).
Kansas City failed to score a touchdown for only the third time with Mahomes at quarterback in Sunday’s awful loss to Denver, with key drops costing the team.
But Mahomes was unequivocal on the issue.
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid attends a press conference in Frankfurt
‘I think almost those drops just happen. If you keep working on it, you can more or less eliminate it and I’ve seen the guys continue to work throughout the season. “They know I’m going to keep shooting the football at them,” he said.
‘Of course we don’t want any drops. But at the same time, when they happen, you have to make sure you fix that mistake. And next time it comes back to you, you won’t drop it again.”
Reid added, “Yes, we have to be more consistent and catch the football. Ultimately, that’s something we’re working on. And so we will continue to do that. We’ve had some young players there who are trying their best to get better every day and that’s where the focus is.”
Now on his third international trip – the Chiefs won in both London in 2015 and Mexico City in 2019 – Reid feels he has a winning formula.
Kelce will attend a practice session in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday ahead of Sunday’s game
And his players agree, with Kelce adding: “There’s been a lot of talk about the rest and coming here and a lot of talk about us coming here later and maybe not having time to acclimatize.
“I’ll be the one to say we have a team that’s ready, they’re ready to roll in the parking lot anytime, anywhere, nice grass. It’s all mental for us and we’re ready to rock.
Asked about the NFL’s international program, he said: “I’m passionate about football. And to see that it can potentially happen globally, that’s a great thing. It’s a fun game. It’s fun, it’s exciting.
“A little bit of that anger comes out in guys and they go out and play and hit each other. Sometimes good. I’ve always said that if we could figure out how to get all the countries playing, there would be no more wars. We were just going to play football.’