30 July 2023 , 14:23
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Travis Kelce has tweeted for the first time since video footage emerged of him throwing a punch at one of his Kansas City Chiefs teammates.
The incident occurred during practice for the Chiefs on Saturday, with the video being filmed by a fan behind the endzone. The Super Bowl champions were taking part in a practice session in a play just a few yards short of the endzone.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had the ball and threw a pass to Kelce in the end zone. However, the tight end was unhappy with Jack Cochrane after catching the ball and reacted angrily by throwing his arm in the direction of his teammate’s face.
Kelce seemed to take issue with Cochrane making contact with him after it was clear he had completed the catch. After Kelce threw a punch, the pair then briefly clashed before the situation cooled down as the other players on the field watched on.
The hit on Kelce did not seem to be delivered with much force by Cochrane, however, that did not stop the Chiefs tight end from reacting angrily. Hours later, he would take to Twitter to speak for the first time since footage of the incident emerged on social media.
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Kelce did not mention the incident directly but gave an honest assessment of what he expects from himself.
“Gotta be a better teammate gotta be a better leader… plain and simple,” wrote Kelce on Twitter, indicating he is well aware he was in the wrong and underlining his leadership.
It is not unusual for fights to happen during the early stages of pre-season training camps. Players have largely been enjoying time off since either January or February and have not been used to taking hits since then.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce reacted angrily during a practice session this week (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)A New York Jets practice session saw three fights break out during the first week of training camp. One incident took place right in front of the cameras for HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’, with players needing to be separated.
The Chiefs have a busy pre-season schedule ahead of them as they prepare for the defence of their Super Bowl title. The team have begun the training camp sessions ahead of three friendly games over the course of August.
Mahomes, Kelce, and Co will be taking on the New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, and the Cleveland Browns in pre-season friendlies in August. That will all be the build-up to the Week One opener against the Detroit Lions on September 7.