Kelce to Chase: Don’t ever disrespect Mahomes

Jun 23, 2023, 08:37 AM ET

Travis Kelce says he understands Ja’Marr Chase wanting to stick up for his quarterback but by dissing Patrick Mahomes he better be ready to back up his “bold” talk.

The Kansas City Chiefs‘ star tight end weighed in on the Cincinnati Bengals‘ star wide receiver’s “Pat who?” comment this week on his “New Heights” podcast that he co-hosts with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.

“It is what it is, dog. Who doesn’t love some good locker room banter, man?” Kelce said. “Shoutout to Ja’Marr Chase for holding it down for his QB, but don’t you ever disrespect Pat Mahomes, now. If you wanna talk your s—, talk your s—, pimp. Just better back it up.”

The back-and-forth between the AFC rivals started after Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said this month that Mahomes was the best quarterback in the NFL and that there’s no argument to make until someone can knock him off.

Chase understandably has Burrow, instead, at the top of the list. When told of his teammate’s opinion, Chase made his “Pat who?” comment, which might have been made in a tongue-in-cheek manner but hasn’t been taken that way by the Chiefs.

“I thought it was a little bold,” Kelce said. “[Mahomes] is a two-time league MVP, two-time Super Bowl MVP. To say ‘Pat who?’ is like I don’t know.”

Jason Kelce said he thought it was “little disrespectful.”

“Pat didn’t like it. Mahomes tweeted a picture of himself at the Chiefs’ ring ceremony [June 15] — glad you guys had fun doing that — wearing his two Super Bowl rings with the declaration ‘That’s Who,'” he said.

That’s Who 💍💍 pic.twitter.com/pIs95yWMTS

— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) June 16, 2023

Last year was Burrow’s best season in the NFL. He was an MVP finalist and named to his first Pro Bowl. He also threw a career-high, franchise-record 35 touchdowns.

Mahomes had a massive year in 2022, helping Kansas City win its second Lombardi Trophy in the past four seasons. He led the NFL in Total QBR (77.6), passing yards (5,250) and touchdowns (41). Mahomes was named The Associated Press MVP, the second time he has won the honor.

He also picked up his first win against the Burrow-led Bengals. Before Kansas City exacted revenge against the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game, Cincinnati had won three straight games against Mahomes’ Chiefs.

Kansas City will host Cincinnati this season in Week 17 on Dec. 31.

Information from ESPN’s Ben Baby was used in this report.