Three Kansas City Chiefs who deserved to be on Madden 21 cover
KC Chiefs who deserved to be on Madden 21 cover – Number 2: Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce has been considered a top three tight end in football today, but since he did not have to compete with Rob Gronkowski in 2019, and he would come face to face with his counter part in George Kittle in Super Bowl XIV, then a strong case could be made for Kelce’s handsome mug on the cover of Madden 21.
Kelce has found success in the Chiefs offense under head coach Andy Reid, regardless of which quarterback was passing him the ball. I understand that the Madden cover is not awarded to a player based on their entire body of work.
In the Chiefs offense that is being called the Legion of Zoom that there has been no greater quarterback/tight end tandem than Mahomes and Kelce other than Brady and Gronk. Kelce is 6’5″ and weighs 260 pounds, but despite his size, he is deceptively fast and illusive.
Kelce could have three defenders in his back pocket and still reach up and make an impossible grab. Despite injuries to his quarterback counterpart Patrick Mahomes, at the midpoint of the season, Kelce still led all Chiefs tight ends and players in receiving yards with 604. Kelce had some games that padded more stats then others, but he played a part in every Chiefs victory of last season.
In week two against the Raiders, Kelce caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. In the week 11 Monday night game against the Chargers in Mexico, Kelce caught seven passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. Against the Pats in New England, Kelce caught seven passes for 66 yards and even rushed for a touchdown out of the wild cat formation.
In the very next game against divisional rivals the Denver Broncos in a snow globe, Kelce logged 11 catches for 142 yards. Against the Bears on Sunday night, Kelce caught eight passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.
While those might not be dazzling numbers in themselves, during the course of that game Kelce became the fastest tight end in league history to reach 500 career receptions and would finish the 2019 season with 97 receptions for 1,229 yards, five receiving touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. In the process, he became the first tight end in NFL history to have over 1,000 receiving yards in four consecutive seasons.
In the divisional round of the playoffs against the Houston Texans, the Chiefs were down to the Texans 24-0 in the first quarter. Kelce dropped a pass that would have been a first down, but that would be his only drop of the night, as he would explode and have a monstrous rest of the game, catching ten passes for 134 yards and three touchdowns, all in the second quarter.
This would be Kelce’s biggest performance of the season, but while he played smaller roles in the AFC Championship victory over the Titans and the Super Bowl LIV victory over the 49ers, the Chiefs might not have made it out of that 24-0 hole and beaten the Texans had it not been for the heroics of Mahomes and Kelce.
The stat lines of Kittle and Kelce in the Super Bowl were very similar with Kittle catching four passes for 36 yards and Kelce catching six passes for 43 yards, a receiving touchdown and one carry for two yards. So what separates these two when it comes to the best tight ends in all of football?
The ring, baby.
For all the talent of Kittle, Kelce will soon wear a Super Bowl ring and Kittle does not. It’s that simple.
For his accolades in the 2019 season and proving to any that might have still been harboring doubt that he is the best tight end in football, Travis Kelce is the obvious choice for cover athlete of Madden 21.