GLENDALE, Ariz. — The tears came for Travis Kelce, and there was no stopping them. One of the loudest, boldest, brashest and best players in football, in his ultimate moment of glory, was locked in an inner conflict few of us will ever know.
Because, for all the brilliance of Patrick Mahomes and the spectacular nature of Super Bowl LVII and the controversial plays and Rihanna and everything else, the story of the Kelces — one a Kansas City Chiefs tight end who got to lift the trophy and the other a Philadelphia Eagles center who didn’t — was in many ways the most human tale of the grandest game of all.
And for all the bluster and hype and joking around, Travis Kelce felt his stomach twist in knots as he sat at a media podium and thought of Jason, less than an hour after the Chiefs won a nail-biter 38-35.
Hence the tumbling tears: real, genuine and unstoppable.
“There is really nothing you can say to a loved one in a situation like that,” Kelce said, with a halting voice and the waterworks welling. “You joke around all the time and say you want to beat your brother on the biggest stage ever, but it is a weird feeling.
“There is really nothing I can say to him except I love him, and he played a hell of a year and a hell of a season.”
As the potential of an Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl matchup drew closer, so did the Kelce brothers. They have a podcast together and their bond has tightened significantly. They chat more, they understand each other better, they root for each other passionately despite all the razzing and bro humor.
But there is a price that comes with that. Sometimes we hurt more for our loved ones than we do for ourselves. As the confetti fell, Travis, from having lost the Super Bowl two years ago, knew precisely what Jason was feeling. How inconsolable he was. How nothing could help.
Mahomes’ favorite target is bombastic and talks like a WWE wrestler on occasion, but he’s real, and he knows the gravity and the rarity of moments like these. Sunday night will remain forever one of the most special days of his life. And he knows that for his brother it will always mean something else.
“I feel like this was the happiest year of my life, man,” Kelce said. “Both off the field and on the field, to see my family be in its all its glory, get all the flowers. For my mom to be center of attention, on the jumbotron before the game, on the biggest stage. Being able to get closer with my brother throughout the season and then to meet him at the mountaintop.
“(That part) was the best feeling in the world, man. I tell you what, I don’t know how many I got left, but I’m sure going to cherish this one forever. I feel a whole lot for my brother right now.”
It was quite a night to be a Kelce.
Travis had 81 yards on six catches and the Chiefs’ opening touchdown. Jason protected Jalen Hurts with resolute fire as the Eagles QB struck gold with three rushing TDs, one through the air and a two-point conversion.
One proud mom, the immensely likable Donna, sat next to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in the stands. Through it all nursing an unavoidable and haunting reality, that they all pushed to the back of the mind for two weeks. That one son’s glory would be counterpointed by the other’s torment.
Check out Travis Kelce’s reaction and emotion to winning Super Bowl LVII with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jason has a ring, from five years ago. He wanted another for all the reasons that Travis did, because two is complete validation, removing any silly notions of beginner’s luck and opportune timing.
“I am happy for him,” Jason said. “I haven’t quite felt the emotion of it yet. I am sure we will have a more emotional interaction at that point, but I’m really, really happy for Trav.
“I have talked to my brother this year more than I’ve talked to him since college, probably. He is an incredible person, it is truly a joy. It is probably one of my most enjoyable seasons as an Eagle and as a brother.
“It is awesome, to talk to him every week, laugh with him every week. I look forward to doing that in the offseason — it is going to be an awkward podcast for me. But you can’t win them all.”
You can’t. And if you’re a football family with a sibling on either side, you can’t both win.
That’s football, that’s family, that’s life.
