Mecole Hardman (left) and Travis Kelce.Photo:Cooper Neill/Getty; Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty
Cooper Neill/Getty; Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty
The Chiefs' wide receivers are showing some love to their teammateTravis Kelce!
Ahead of the Kansas City football team’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Inglewood, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 29,Rashee Riceenlisted fellow wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman Jr. to wear some custom T-shirts during the pregame warm-up.
CBS Sports' Tracy Wolfson reported in a post onX(formerly Twitter) that Rice, 24, got the shirts “for all the WRs to honor their leader and a guy who has mentored all of them.”
Mecole Hardman wears a custom Travis Kelce T-shirt in 2022.Cooper Neill/Getty
Cooper Neill/Getty
The wide receivers' support for Travis comes amid criticism over the tight end’s performance on the field since the 2024-2025 NFL season kicked off on Sept. 5. The negative commentary intensified after he logged only 30 receiving yards in theChiefs' win last week over the Atlanta Falcons.
This isn’t the first time the Chiefs squad has brought out some custom T-shirts to support a teammate. Playerspreviously wore Dreamathon shirtsin support of running back Isiah Pacheco after he was injured earlier this month, perNBC Sports.
This week, Travis addressed the criticism surrounding his slow start to the season during an episode of hisNew Heightspodcast with brother and Philadelphia Eagles alumJason Kelce.
“Pat said it. Coach Reed said it. You know, we’re finding ways to win games, andwe’re not playing our best football," Travis said. “Everybody can clean it up. I think everyone saw my drop on in the Q4, that crucial third down, just trying to do too much before putting the ball away.”
“I think, with how defenses are playing us right now, I’m not really getting a lot of opportunities to make plays down the field, but not using that as an excuse moving forward, still trying to, you know, make sure that I can help the team out in that regard, knowing that I’ve been that weapon for us in the past," Travis added.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (left) and tight end Travis Kelce prepare to take the field on Sept. 29, 2024.Kevork Djansezian/Getty
Kevork Djansezian/Getty
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Chiefs quarterbackPatrick Mahomesalso weighed in on the situation,telling mediaafter the team’s Sept. 22 win against the Falcons: “We’re calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it’s like two or three [defenders] are going to him.”
“That’s the great thing about him is he wants to make an impact on the game but he wants to win at the end of the day,” Mahomes, 29, said of his teammate.
“I’m going to do my best to keep feeding him the ball whenever he’s there, whenever he’s open. I think the more Rashee [Rice] makes plays, the more we’re able to run the football, the more we can get [Xavier] Worthy involved, I think that’s going to open Travis up more," Mahomes continued. “People are really emphasizing taking him away and that’s getting other guys open.”
source: people.com