Travis Kelce had five words when his brother Jason suggested NFL officials were putting too much pressure on the field: “They signed up for it.”
The Kelce brothers discussed the controversy surrounding Sunday's game between the Chiefs and Bills, in which Kansas City was denied a final touchdown due to an offensive offside play as they fell to a 23-20 loss.
Patrick Mahomes was left seething over the call, angrily slamming his helmet on the ground and yelling at the officials as his teammates restrained him on the sideline, antics that have earned him widespread criticism across the sport.
But after Travis touched on the offside call and Mahomes' meltdown, he couldn't resist a throwaway dig aimed at NFL officials during his and Jason's latest episode New Heights podcast.
Jason first said at the end of their post-match analysis: 'The referees have a lot of pressure, I think they're taking too much.'
Travis Kelce directed a throwaway dig at NFL referees following Sunday's Arrowhead controversy
Patrick Mahomes has come under fire for his angry reaction to a late offside call that denied the Chiefs a potential game-winning touchdown against the Bills
Kelce said NFL referees 'signed up' for taking heat from players during the latest episode of his and brother Jason's New Heights podcast
Before Travis then interjected with, “They signed up for it.”
Jason concluded, “When your emotions are involved, sometimes it comes out more aggressively than you intend, and then it leads to more people talking about it and more people becoming divisive about it – and it's just not productive.”
While his comments may have been tongue-in-cheek, Travis did jump to teammate Mahomes' defense amid criticism over his angry reaction to the offside call that denied them a late victory.
Despite replays confirming this was the correct call, the NFL MVP saw red when Kadarius Toney was deemed to have been in the neutral zone before the ball was snapped, meaning his eventual touchdown on a beautiful spin and back pass from Kelce ultimately counted for nothing.
Immediately after the game, Mahomes doubled down on his criticism of the officials, accusing them of denying Kelce an all-time great offensive game.
Although he later admitted his actions were out of line, Kelce has defended Mahomes' post-game comments as he appeared to justify his on-court breakdown by “putting our hearts into it.”
When Jason told him that his teammate claimed the offside call “took away from Travis Kelce's legendary career,” Travis said, “I love Pat for that man, everyone just sticks up for each other man and that's all I care about . about.
The Chiefs tight end also jumped to Mahomes' defense, suggesting his on-field meltdown was the result of “putting our hearts into it”
“If they get fined for what they said, fine. But at least the guys in this locker room know that we have their backs, that we're all in this together and we're moving forward.
“We put our hearts into it, man, you don't just see guys clocking in and out for a salaryman. You have guys who really care, not just about the wins and losses, but about the livelihood of every individual in that construction business – another reason why I love coming to work every day.
'This only makes us want to play even harder for each other. I appreciate Pat saying that, I love Coach Reid, I love the ability to support our guys.”