Cowabunga! This goes beyond the mere jerkish behavior one (or at least I) expects of NFL players.
Kelce has been getting nationwide publicity because of his romance with superstar pop artist Taylor Swift. He knew all eyes would be on the couple during the annual concussion-fest that is always the most viewed single event network TV offering, the Super Bowl (won in thrilling fashion, or so I was told, by the Chiefs in only the second overtime game in SB history). So how did Kelce, fully aware that his fans young and old would be watching, handle his moment in the spotlight?
You see it above: After the Chiefs lost a fumble in the second quarter of the game, Kelce was seen on live TV yelling in Coach Reid’s face and even bumping him. In any other sport, and usually this one, the disrespectful player would be benched, fined and suspended. One NFL player, seeing Kelce’s outburst, tweeted that if he did something like that, he’d be kicked out of the NFL.
Oh no, it was all in good fun, we were informed afterwards. Even though he embarrassed his coach and taught young NFL and Taylor Swift fans that it’s just fine to treat your superiors, bosses and authority figures like dirt, “sources” on the team assured the media that the player “respects Coach Reid. It’s really just about the passion of the game. It wasn’t anything serious.”
Right. Making hostile physical contact with your boss in front of team mates on national TV is nothing serious. I remember Reggie Jackson doing something similar to Yankees manager Billy Martin in the dugout during a game in Fenway Park, and Martin had to be restrained from attacking Reggie, who was immediately suspended.
But Martin had some self-respect, and Reggie wasn’t dating Taylor Swift, I guess. And Kelce? Asked about his actions, he told ESPN. “I was just telling him how much I love him.”
Ha. Funny.
What an asshole.
To be fair to Kelce, he probably already is suffering from brain damage, so that’s something of a mitigation. He and Taylor shouldn’t worry: Donald Trump is still the odds on favorite to win “Asshole of the Year,” as he usually does.
Ethics Alarms 
Reggie Jackson is supposed to be kind of an asshole too. Billy Martin was an idiot and a hothead whose life ended when he left a bar with a drunk friend behind the wheel. He’s lucky he got that far. I always wonder how it is that jerks get as far as they do in life without pissing off the wrong person and being beaten to death or otherwise killed.
Martin was a hothead, an asshole and a drunk, but not an idiot. He was an excellent, clever manager of the old school, which no longer works with multi-millionaire players. He confronted Jackson for loafing in the field, and was dead right to do so.
Oh, I’m not saying he wasn’t right to chew Jackson out. He was absolutely right to do it.
Steve, check out Michael E’s comment on this post musing why unjustly convicted people never go on missions of vengeance against those responsible for destroying their lives. Your comment would be of interest: I was going to reply that you would not forgive and forget if a crooked DA, a bad judge, dumb jurors, corrupt cops and others conspired to send you to Devil’s island. Surely the only examples of the released victim seeking retribution aren’t in fiction and horror movies….
Hmmmm. Give me a bit to think and I’ll get back to you.
The most obvious answer is that most people who have had their lives destroyed have neither the resources nor the abilities to have revenge on those who destroyed their lives. Their lives are destroyed, they’ve barely got a pot to piss in or pan to cook in. Maybe they can bring lawsuits, but that’s about it. Even so, there are often immunities from lawsuits for prosecutors and jurors. The best bet if you finally get out of jail is to go home to your family and enjoy what time you have left.
if your life hasn’t been totally destroyed, then you might get a chance at revenge. I’ve taken revenge on other lawyers who screwed me on cases by screwing them later when they need my help. The best revenge in that case is to win the case, even if what I would really like to do is bang the guy’s head against the curb until his brains are coming out of his ears.
The book “Sleepers” by Italian-American author Lorenzo Carcaterra supposedly is based on a real revenge plot in which four boys who were abused by guards during reform school get revenge on them. Even so, they have the help of the local mob boss King Benny and a priest who is willing to perjure himself for them to do it. There is a real question as to the truth behind this book, however.
it’s mostly those who escape having their lives destroyed completely who seek revenge. Bob menendez said he was going to be looking for revenge after he beat the rap in his last criminal trial. I’m not sure how far he got, but it looks like the prosecutor was also looking for revenge at being made to look foolish and now he is probably going to get it because Menendez had to hide some of his wealth in the form of gold bars, which nobody keeps around except cartoon villains.
Interestingly, a lot of the best and most popular stories told are about getting revenge. I’m sure we all grew up at some point reading the legend of Robin Hood. It went through many iterations, but eventually it seems to have settled on the legend that Robin himself was some form of nobleman or man of property before the villainous Guy of Gisborne and sheriff of Nottingham laid false charges against his father and imprisoned him so they could steal his land. The old man died in prison and eventually Robin sought to bring Sir Guy and the sheriff down in retribution.
Of course the ultimate revenge story is Alexander Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo, where Edmond Dantes is framed by an enemy who wants to steal his fiancee and another who wants to get the promotion intended for him and they lock him up in prison on an island. A fellow prisoner points him towards a way out and also tells him where to find a lost treasure. Once he escapes and he has the treasure, he then proceeds to use the great reach the treasure affords him to destroy his former enemies. Supposedly the story is also based on something that really happened.
The sad fact is that most people who have their lives destroyed do not eventually rebuild them and have the reach or the power to get revenge. My thought is that the time to stop jerks from getting to the point where they can destroy lives is to nail them much earlier. Unfortunately, there is no study to establish how many school bullies didn’t grow up to be jerks who could destroy lives because earlier in life someone beat the tobacco juice out of them and convinced them to stop bullying.
There have been several incidents regarding KC players – particularly Kelce and Patrick Mahomes – berating teammates, coaches, and officiating crews this year. It’s one thing to be frustrated with an official’s call, or with how you think your teammates are playing, but screaming at them in front of cameras (and the players know the cameras are on them) is childish and embarrassing to watch.
Travis Kelce’s display last night was especially ugly, because the coaching staff makes the personnel decisions for each play. It’s not up to a player to decide when he gets to be on the field. Kelce’s outburst amounted to little more than armchair quarterbacking, using his 20/20 hindsight to determine that somehow he would have made a difference. It was also second-guessing his coaches and maybe even insubordination.
I’m guessing he’ll get “the King’s Pass” on it, though he should probably be (at the very least) fined by the team. I’m sure Ms. Swift could make bail for him.
Having written that, I must add that Niners QB Brock Purdy is one of the best stories in the NFL this year (and maybe going back several years). It helps greatly that he attended college at Iowa State (my alma mater), where he set every meaningful football record the school tracks. Two years ago, when I watched him play his last game as a Cyclone, I could not have imagined that twenty-two months later, I would see him in a Super Bowl as a starting QB. From Mr. Irrelevant to coming within 3 seconds of winning the Super Bowl in regulation against an elite defense as basically a rookie.
And Brock Purdy is apparently a class act through-and-through. Several years ago, my wife and I had breakfast in a restaurant and seated at the table next to us were several Iowa State boosters. They were talking about their exposure to Purdy and the consensus among them was that the kid had absolutely no ego whatsoever, but that he loved to play football and would do anything he could to help the team win.
That presents a nice contrast to the shrieking we saw last night from Kelce.
Oh, and one other thing…
I hope Taylor Swift understands that she was given a sneak preview of what life could be like with Travis when things don’t go his way. Have fun soothing that savage beast…
Great point. That guy is a walking domestic violence time bomb.
Of course, most of Swift’s songs bemoan her terrible choices of lovers. It sure seems that female singers are especially attracted to abusive men. Doris Day married two of them.
Absolutely! And Taylor could do so much better! The question is…will she?
I joked that Kelce needs to be careful because Taylor Swift only starts dating when she needs material for a new album or 2. Swift has over a decade of abusive relationships and one common denominator. It isn’t like she has no other options in the dating world.
So true! 100 % agreed! Great comment!
What do you do when the dishwasher won’t work? Beat her! 🤣
The media and pop culture power players are frantically doing everything to make this couple front and center American celebrity royalty.
Is it any surprise that they think they have some immunity from consequences for spoiled brat behavior?
they might have to be the power couple from afar. They promised to leave the US of and when Trump wins in November.
jvb
Too bad progressives don’t keep promises.
FYI: Your comment attracted a classic example of the kind of comment that doesn’t make it through moderation: some jerk calling himself “Tuck Frump” (Get it???) wrote, “And I’m sure you are one of those mouth breathing dolts who wants Trump to win. It astounds me that roughly half of the United States is essentially mentally retarded.” Brilliant.
Mouth-breathing dolt? Hardly. I had my deviated septum fixed many, many years ago.
jvb
It’s a terrible temptation to engage people like that, and challenging them to actually reason with you and back up their pure emotional assertions. I’ve tried here many times. It never pans out.
The retarded people are those who voted for – and still soundly support – the Mobile Mannequin…aka President Biden.
That photo kind of looks like Andy Reid is just trying to get to a happy place. Wouldn’t it be a saucy twist if his happy place was in front of the stereo, lights down low, glass of chardonnay, some sweet T-Swizzle lilting through the speakers?
If Kelce had a tantrum like this on one of Vince Lombardi’s teams, the very next day he’d be standing in the unemployment line. That said, one could argue that Kelce is simply a product of today’s much coarser and vulgar society. Behavior that once was considered unthinkable and wouldn’t be tolerated are acceptable and sometimes even applauded today.
Meanwhile: https://twitter.com/OccupyDemocrats/status/1756889616781574477
“…just won’t the Super Bowl…”?
What does that even mean? Grammar, spelling, and maybe even proof-reading must not be high priorities with whoever “Occupy Democrats” is.
Besides, as Jack pointed out above, Taylor’s become wealthy singing about her terrible choices in men. She selects Joe Biden…?…so, ergo…
Well, you know.
Another potential funny…if Ms. Swift was dating Jason (who I believe is happily married) instead of Travis, would be talking about “Jaylor” (get it?) instead of “Traylor”?