PHOENIX — Even Travis Kelce is getting tired of hearing about the Kelce brothers.
“It’s overplayed,” Kelce said at Monday’s Super Bowl Opening Night. “It’s totally overplayed and it’s only [Monday].”
Deal with it, Travis.
The story of Travis, the Chiefs’ tight end, and his brother Jason, the Eagles’ center, becoming the first pair of brothers to face each other in the Super Bowl is one of, if not the, top storylines of Super Bowl week. It dominated Monday’s media session with the Chiefs All-Pro.
He was asked which brother their father would send away in a UFO. He was asked who had better grades. He was given a T-shirt from a reporter from Mexico that said “Kelce Bowl” and had a Mexican wrestling mask on it that was half Eagles design and half Chiefs. His mother Donna, sporting a half Eagles/half Chiefs jersey, was on stage to hand the two brothers homemade cookies.
“You can’t tell my mom anything right now,” Travis Kelce said. “She’s an absolute superstar. I appreciate everybody kind of jumping on the train and letting her have as much fun as she’s been having.”
Who won the fights when they were kids?
“Jason won every fight but one and that was the last fight,” Travis said. “I’m not even going to say I won, but I definitely gave it my all and he stopped fighting me after that. I held my own.”
There were also plenty of backyard football, baseball and basketball games where the brothers dreamed of being pros. Now, they are playing each other in the nation’s biggest sporting event.
“I remember my brother always beating me in those situations and always winning,” Travis said. “I want to change that for sure.”
Kelce has earned a reputation as a fun-loving guy and he made headlines after the AFC Championship game when he fired back at Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, who had talked smack before the Chiefs’ 23-20 win over the Bengals.
“I’ve got some wise words for that Cincinnati mayor. Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni!” Kelce said, channeling The Rock.
Kelce was asked if he has a message for the Philadelphia mayor.
“He seems cool to me,” Kelce said. “I’m not talking to any more mayors from this point on.”
Kelce said he only engages in trash talk when he is responding to someone else.
“I walk the walk before anything,” Kelce said. “I don’t talk much. I just bark back.”
The 33-year-old Kelce will appear in his third Super Bowl on Sunday. He is 1-1 in the big game and said the memory of the Chiefs’ loss to the Buccaneers two years ago will serve as fuel for this week’s game.
“I feel like it’s an empty feeling in my stomach,” he said. “It was just a sour taste. I’m ready to go out there and prove to myself I can get another one.”
Kelce said this Super Bowl already feels more “electric.” The game in Tampa Bay was played with COVID restrictions in place. There was no bright lights like he saw Monday night and will see all week.
“It’s 1,000 percent different,” he said. “They’re all different from the last one. The last taste I had in my mouth in the Super Bowl, it wasn’t too good. I’m focused on making sure I don’t end this one like the last one.”
Appearing in two Super Bowls already has provided some lessons for Kelce, who said he has cautioned his younger teammates about letting the Super Bowl week get the best of him.
“It can kind of drain you,” Kelce said. “You have to be able to turn it off, turn it on, make sure you get your rest. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been in this situation and able to pass that info along to the younger guys.”