NFL hits Chiefs TE Travis Kelce with news he should’ve seen coming ahead of Week 3 vs. Giants
It’s starting to feel a lot like that Key & Peele sketch in the NFL.
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce got hit with some news he certainly didn’t want to hear ahead of the Week 3 game against the New York Giants on “Sunday Night Football.”
As first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL has fined Kelce $14,491 for unsportsmanlike conduct/obscene gestures. They did not throw a penalty flag on the play, but assessed it after the fact to determine that Kelce’s gesture should have mandated it.
With four minutes to go in the third quarter of Week 2 vs. the Philadelphia Eagles, Kelce caught a pass on second down to pick up a fresh set of downs. Let’s say that his celebration afterward was rated PG-13, which is apparently too much for the league.
This isn’t the first time the NFL has fined Kelce during his 13-year NFL career. Just last season, he was fined for unsportsmanlike conduct (use of a prop) for doing the signature Tony Gonzalez crossbar dunk after breaking the franchise touchdown record, which Gonzalez previously held. Gonzalez, of course, footed the bill on that nod from Kelce.
Travis Kelce falls victim to the NFL’s offseason point of emphasis
The NFL announced it’d be cracking down on non-football acts this offseason, which makes sense after a rise in gun-related celebrations a season ago. Xavier Worthy was fined in 2024 for a post-touchdown celebration that the league considered a violent gesture. But it’s not just about violent gestures; they’re coming for the sexually explicit ones, too.
“Unsportsmanlike gestures like simulating or either shooting a gun or brandishing a gun, or inappropriate gestures like a throat slash, or unfortunate sexual gestures, those were up 133%, so that is a point of emphasis,” NFL officiating rules analyst Walt Anderson said in August. “The officials have made it a point of emphasis to the clubs. It’s just one of those areas that the league wants to work actively on. There are plenty of ways for players to be able to celebrate, and they come up with some very unique and often entertaining ways, so we want them to focus on those and not the inappropriate areas.”
Players were informed of this emphasis heading into the season, so Kelce should’ve known this fine was coming after he decided to celebrate in that fashion. He’ll have to maintain Key & Peele’s three-pump rule moving forward.
Of course, Kelce can always appeal the decision, but I’d wager to say that he’ll probably just stick to a different celebration next time.
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