Travis Kelce comments on decade-long history with Patrick Mahomes

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce spoke with reporters after practice recently at Missouri Western State University. He recalled some of his first interactions with Patrick Mahomes and the arc of their relationship since he was drafted in 2017. "One of the most surprising things you'll ever find out about playing with Pat Mahomes is the guy's got a good cadence. There's something with the frequency of his voice. And when he says 'hut hut', it really gets you to mentally—when you're tired, you've really got to lock in because that frequency can get you to jump no matter what. It's a good cadence. Everybody knows I love that guy. That's a brother to me," said Kelce. "So proud of the way he handled adversity from last year to right now. Obviously, we've still got about a month, less than a month till the first game. But you see him out here, man. You see him enjoying the game, competing at a high level, not thinking about the knee. And he's playing his tail off right now and leading us is the biggest thing. When you get your leaders out there, your best players out there, and they're setting the tone, setting the standard of the team. As long as 1-5 is out there doing that, man, we're going to be a good football team." Kelce finished the 2025 season with 78 catches for 851 yards and five touchdowns. He earned his 11th Pro Bowl selection, proving he's still a premier player at his position. He praised Mahomes' progress in practice, anticipating a big season whenever he hits the field with talented receiving options other than himself in 2026. "I mean, we've got a lot of great players on this offense. It's not just me. We've got some young guys that can play in Cyrus Allen, Jalen Royals. Obviously, (Tyquan) Quan (Thornton) is coming back. He's looking great running down the field. And then we've got Xavier Worthy, who, if you see him in the offseason, we've just got to get him a little healthy right now. But that man, he's a man on a mission right now, and I love the way he's working and his attention to detail and how he's running his routes and just the aggression that he's running his routes in. When we get him back out here, man, we'll be a full arsenal," said Kelce, "And I think Pat (Mahomes) has done an unbelievable job of not only getting himself ready for here but working with these receivers and making sure that everybody's living up to that standard of how we're going to play this year. And you can't forget Rashee Rice, man. Rashee Rice is out here working his tail off, trying to get right as well, and we love (number) four for getting out here and getting through these dog days, knowing he's coming off a knee surgery." Mahomes finished the 2025 season with 22 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions in 14 games before the knee injury. He also rushed for 422 yards and five touchdowns. This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Travis Kelce comments on decade-long history with Patrick Mahomes