Travis Kelce and the Chiefs will face the Chargers in Brazil on Friday night – but not before traveling two hours to the stadium on gameday, he revealed.
The AFC West rivals will be kicking off the NFL season at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo as the league stages a matchup in the South American country for just the second time.
But the tight end shared on the latest episode of ‘New Heights’ that Kansas City will be facing a bit of travel chaos on gameday.
‘I know the stadium’s two hours away from the hotel,’ he said. That’ll be a unique experience driving to the game game for two hours, the old college football way that we used to drive… we were dealt a hand and we gotta play it.
‘It is what it is. It’ll be rewarding if we go down there and find a way to win knowing that this is such a unique schedule and unique experience. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to go down to Brazil.’
While the tight end predicted that the game would be ‘so much fun’, he detailed the Chiefs’ less-than-ideal trek to Brazil, which will essentially see them lose an entire day of preparation due to their roughly 12-hour flight down on Wednesday.
Travis Kelce revealed that the Chiefs will have to travel two hours on gameday this Friday
Kelce, seen in January 2024, said he would have to be ‘smart with his time’ due to the travel quirks of going to Brazil
The Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers played at Arena Corinthians last year
‘This is the most unique I think it’s been in terms of traveling to a game. It’s not like you’re going to the other side of the world in terms of time zones and stuff, we’re only going two time zones away,’ Kelce said.
‘But we’re traveling half a day. So it’s interesting – typically you would go to London and time it up to where you get in London or you get overseas in Europe and you have a whole day in front of you. So you can sleep on the plane, or you can at least try and get some sleep on the plane.’
Travis added that it would be a challenge to try and juggle his sleep schedule, and said ‘you gotta be smart with your time’ – as his brother Jason, jokingly suggested he emulate Russell Wilson and do high-knees on the plane.
In reality, Kelce said he’d be killing some time playing Mario Kart on his Nintendo Switch 2. And he is certainly looking forward to the game despite the inconvenient travel.
‘The international games are always a f***ing blast, getting to see how new fans and how they react to big plays, and how they show up to the game,’ he said.
While the Chiefs will be looking to start the season with a win, they’ll be doing so without a significant piece of their offense.
Rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals has been ruled out of Friday night’s game and did not travel with the team.
Royals, who was drafted by Kansas City in the fourth round of April’s Draft, has been suffering with knee tendinitis.
The 22-year-old former Utah State wideout did not practice on Tuesday ahead of the team making the trip to Brazil.
