KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s safe to say virtually everyone in the Chiefs organization wanted Travis Kelce to suit up Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers and take a run at picking up the mere 16 yards receiving he required to reach another 1,000-yard season.
Everyone that is except for one person — Travis Kelce.
“Travis is a humble, humble guy,” said head coach Andy Reid. “He didn’t want to be selfish or come across as selfish — everyone, all the players wanted him to play but he just goes, ‘You know what I don’t like the way it feels.'”
Kelce sat out the team’s finale on Sunday along with most of the team’s starters. He and quarterback Patrick Mahomes along with defensive end Mike Danna were healthy scratches among the team’s seven inactive players. Another eight players including seven starters dressed but did not enter the game.
Kelce sitting out meant that he finished the regular season with 984 yards receiving. That brings to an end a streak of seven consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 yards receiving. Greg Olson previously held the record with three straight 1,000-yard seasons.
An eighth consecutive 1,000-yard campaign would have tied Kelce for the fourth-longest streak in NFL history along with receivers Chris Carter, Marvin Harrison and Torry Holt. Jerry Rice holds the record with a streak of 11 seasons, followed by Mike Evans — who extended his streak to 10 last week — and Tim Brown.
With seven straight seasons, Kelce remains tied for the seventh-longest streak along with Lance Alworth, Brandon Marshall, Jimmy Smith and Reggie Wayne.
Kelce has often said that records and milestones don’t hold much meaning for him now, and he proved that Sunday. Ultimately, the decision rested solely on Kelce, Reid said.
“He’s not into that and so he chose not to play,” Reid said. “I completely understand it but that’s him, most guys would have gone out a probably done it but he said, ‘I’ve had a lot of records and this one here, I’m not going to do it this way.'”
Reid also drew a differentiation between Kelce and teammate Chris Jones, who played Sunday in pursuit of his 10th sack on the season. Jones earned a $1.25 million bonus by finishing the season with 10.5 sacks.
“It’s different because of the financial part of it with Chris,” Reid said.
Kelce sitting out the Chargers game meant valuable rest for the 34-year-old, who has arguably dealt with his most injury-wracked campaign since missing all but one game of his rookie season in 2013 due to microfracture knee surgery.
The tight end sustained a hyperextended knee just two days before the opening of the season yet returned to action just 12 days later. He also suffered a sprained ankle in Week 5 against Minnesota, and he’s been dealing with the after-effects of a stinger sustained in Week 15 against New England.
If the rest pays off for Kelce and helps rejuvenate the Kansas City offense in the postseason, no doubt that’s a trade-off he will gladly take.
