Travis Kelce has lifted the lid on the Kansas City Chiefs’ travel nightmare that affected the team before and after their 38-0 loss to the Denver Broncos last week.
The chaos began on Saturday when the reigning Super Bowl champions eventually flew out of Kansas City four hours behind schedule after a brutal winter storm left the team’s plane stranded on the runway.
According to Fox4 News, the Chiefs were originally due to leave for Denver around 2:45pm on Saturday. But it wasn’t until around 6:30pm ET when they finally set off.
The storm led to ‘rapid ice accumulation’ and forced the authorities to close the airfield at Kansas City International Airport – before the Chiefs could leave.
Then, after a team of backups was thrashed by the Broncos, they had to stay in Denver on Sunday night.
As a blizzard swept through the Midwest, Kansas City’s airport was locked down, preventing the Chiefs from making the return trip until Monday.
Travis Kelce has lifted the lid on the Kansas City Chiefs’ travel nightmare to and from Denver
Kelce, Mahomes and their Chiefs teammates were delayed flying out and had to stay overnight
Travis was asked about the nightmare during this week’s episode of New Heights and revealed he had no idea they were delayed in Kansas City on the outbound flight because he fell asleep immediately after boarding.
He told brother Jason: ‘Dude, when I get on these planes I eat my Chick-fil-A and I f***ing recline my seat, put on my headphones and I’m out.
‘I could sleep through a f***ing rock concert. It doesn’t matter where I’m at. I don’t know how I got this trait but I have the ability to just sleep anywhere, anytime. As long as I’m comfortable I can just shut it down.
‘I was out for about three hours on the runway while everybody was having a grand old time. I heard some linemen were wrestling, I heard people were telling war stories and having a good time.
‘I woke up as the plane was taking off and was like “what the f***?” It feels like I’ve been asleep forever. I looked at the time and was like “what just happened?” and then I got briefed.
‘There might be some pics and some videos of me asleep. Somebody might have got me. They might have sniped me.’
However, Travis then admitted the worst part was being forced to spend another night in Denver rather than immediately flying back to Kansas City.
Kelce and Mahomes watched from the sideline as the Broncos thrashed a rotated Chiefs 38-0
He added: ‘I think the more frustrating part was not being able to come back to Kansas City.
‘We had to stay in Denver for another night. Not that Denver isn’t a beautiful city and I don’t love Denver, I do find that city really cool, but it’s not fun sitting around in a hotel room.’
Jason asked why they didn’t go out to celebrate. Travis replied: ‘Vibes weren’t real high. We just got whacked 38-0 so we felt bad for some of the young guys, some of the guys we were rooting for to try and have a good game.
‘Coach (Andy) Reid doesn’t like f***ing losing. I knew going out and having a good time and getting caught on video doing something f***ing stupid wasn’t the best idea so we all just hung out and grabbed dinner together.’
The travel delays are unlikely to have any impact on the Chiefs’ preparations for the playoffs though, given they had already secured the AFC’s No. 1 seed and a bye in this week’s wild card round.
While the Chiefs were getting blown out 38-0 by the Broncos in a game that their longtime AFC West rivals needed to win to clinch a playoff spot, Kelce and Patrick Mahomes were among the key players taking it easy.
Reid chose to give them the weekend off, despite the possibility of rust setting in with at least 24 days before they would have to play their next game.
Others who sat out Sunday included running backs Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, wide receivers Marquise Brown and DeAndre Hopkins, right tackle Jawaan Taylor, pass rushers Chris Jones and George Karlaftis, linebackers Nick Bolton and Drue Tranquill, cornerback Trent McDuffie and safety Justin Reid.
Wide receiver Xavier Worthy and offensive linemen Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith also only played three snaps or less.
