Travis Kelce was not seen at organized team activities (OTAs) on Wednesday, but the Kansas City Chiefs tight end participated on Monday, according to the team.
Kelce’s absence caused a sensation on Wednesday, as media present were unable to locate the 34-year-old, known for traveling the world with his pop star girlfriend Taylor Swift.
But according to photos released by the team On Wednesday, Kelce was present at Monday’s voluntary practice, where she saw her first action alongside new teammate Marquise Brown. Spokespeople for the team did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for more information.
Teammate and quarterback Patrick Mahomes was at practice Wednesday, as he participated in some conditioning and throwing drills with new wide receiver Xavier Worthy and Sky Moore.
Kelce’s decision to snub Wednesday’s OTAs has raised eyebrows inside and outside the franchise, considering what he said last year about football’s equivalent of baseball’s spring training.
Travis Kelce was not seen at organized team activities (OTAs) on Wednesday, but the Kansas City Chiefs tight end participated on Monday, according to the team.
Travis Kelce is pictured with his new teammate, Chiefs wide receiver Marquise Brown (right).
“I love the game,” he told reporters at the time. “I think that keeps me living as a young, fun-loving soccer player. I can make a living playing at 33 or 34 years old, and I don’t want to lose that.
“I don’t want to lose that excitement I had for the game as a kid.”
He added: “Every day I arrive with the best team, the best players and the best coaches in the world, so it’s easy to come here and enjoy it.”
Last weekend, Kelce was seen living it up at his own music festival, Kelce Jam, in Kansas City with Mahomes, Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and Diplo.
Before that, he was on a lavish dinner and boat ride with Swift on Lake Como, Italy, as the pop star continues to tour Europe for her ‘Eras’ tour.
Kelce recently signed a two-year extension worth up to $34.3 million, according to reports.
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid expects a much quieter remainder of the offseason now that the defending Super Bowl champions have reconvened for a series of voluntary workouts, culminating in their mandatory minicamp in the middle of the year. next month.
Whether it was the unresolved car accident involving Rice in Dallas, kicker Harrison Butker’s polarizing comments or the wild schedule imposed on Kansas City by the NFL, which has him playing every day of the week except Tuesday, there has been no shortage headlines involving the Chiefs since they won the title in February.
“Obviously, we don’t want those things to happen,” Reid said, alluding primarily to Rice’s legal problems, “but things happen and you learn from them.” And you finish it. That’s what’s important.’
Kelce makes a catch during Monday’s OTA, as shown in a Chiefs photo reel
Mahomes has been Butker’s teammate since 2018 and defended him on Wednesday.
Reid has been the Chiefs’ head coach since 2013 and won three Super Bowls with the team.
Butker has been under fire for more than a week after some called her graduation speech sexist.
The case involving Rice, one of last season’s breakout stars, has been the biggest headache for Kansas City.
The 24-year-old faces one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision resulting in serious bodily injury and six counts of collision resulting in injury after he was accused of driving at speeds approaching 120mph before the crash. The accident in a speeding Lamborghini, which Rice admitted driving, involved six vehicles and resulted in multiple injuries.
One of his friends, Theodore Knox, was driving a Corvette involved in the crash and faces the same charges. Both are accused of leaving the scene without providing information or determining whether anyone needed medical attention.
Earlier this week, Dallas police said a separate situation apparently involving Rice had been resolved when a man signed an affidavit of non-prosecution for an incident at a downtown nightclub. The wide receiver had reportedly been accused of assaulting the man, although Dallas police never identified Rice in an incident report provided to The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, Rice continues to practice with the Chiefs during their voluntary training program.
“We’ll let the situation play out,” Reid said.
The troubled Chiefs’ wide receiver Rashee Rice was at the team’s practice Wednesday. in the midst of legal problems
Former Wales rugby player and Chiefs halfback Louis Rees-Zammit also took part in the drills.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was asked what advice he could give Rice moving forward, particularly with a legal case, and a likely NFL suspension, hanging over his head and the season starting less than four months.
“It’s about doing everything we can to teach him to learn from his mistakes,” Mahomes responded. ‘Obviously, that was a big mistake. Learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again, and do your best to be the best you can for society and those around you. … We’re going to do everything we can to get him on the right path and become a great football player, obviously, but we also want him to be a great person.”
Mahomes also said that while he doesn’t necessarily agree with comments Butker made in his recent commencement speech at Benedictine College, the Chiefs’ star quarterback supports the kicker’s right to make them.
Among other things, Butker said that most women who received titles were probably more enthusiastic about the idea of getting married and having children; she argued that some Catholic leaders were “imposing dangerous gender ideologies on America’s youth”; she referred to a ‘sort of mortal sin pride to which a month is dedicated’ in an indirect reference to Pride month; and she took aim at President Joe Biden’s policies, including his condemnation of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Roe v. 1973 Wade.
“We won’t always agree,” Mahomes said, “and there are certain things he said that I don’t necessarily agree with.”
However, Mahomes doesn’t think Butker’s comments are a problem in the locker room. He also doesn’t think Rice’s legal troubles will cause any kind of rift as the Chiefs chase their third straight Super Bowl title and fourth in six years.
“When you walk into the locker room, it’s a safe space where everyone can be themselves,” Mahomes said. ‘It’s always good to have people here, people in Kansas City, competing, and then be as smart as possible when we’re not in the building.
“I think the guys understand that we need to take a step forward as a team and as an organization,” Mahomes added, “but we have to go out and prove it so other people believe it too.”
The Chiefs would certainly do well to make a connection quickly. The NFL has presented them with a brutal schedule.
In addition to playing every day of the week except Tuesday, including Christmas for the second straight year, the Chiefs will finish their bye after Week 6 and then have a stretch where they play three games in an 11-day span. .
‘Our schedule has gotten crazier and crazier every year. We know we’re going to have a lot of games in prime time. We’ve built up a lot of capital to be in those games,” Mahomes said, before adding with a wry smile, “I know I’m going to try to be better at Christmas, because last Christmas wasn’t great.”
