The Chiefs had nothing to play for in Week 18, so they rested several of their key players, including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
The tight end was expected to play to get the 16 yards he needed for 1,000 yards for the season.
Instead, Kelsey was inactive.
Coach Andy Reid revealed Tuesday that the team allowed Kelce to make the decision on whether or not to continue his 1,000-yard streak.
“that it A humble, humble manReed said, via Ed Easton of USA Today. “It's different because of the financial part of it, with Chris [Jones]. [Kelce] I didn't want to be selfish or selfish. All the guys want him to play, but he's like, 'You know what? I don't like the way you feel. He's not into it. He chose not to play, and I totally understand that. But that's who he is. Most guys could have gone out and probably did. That, but he said, “I have a lot of records about this here; “I won't do it that way.”
Kelce finished the regular season with 984 receiving yards, marking the first time since 2015 that he failed to reach 1,000 receiving yards.
Mahomes praised his teammate for his selflessness during the quarterback's weekly appearance on 610 Sports Radio.
“That speaks to the type of teammate he is,” Mahomes said. “In all honesty, I was Trying to force him to playLike I was trying to get him to go out there because I knew he was going to try not to play, and he wanted to be about the team and not about him. I was trying to force him to continue until game time, and then he said: “No, that's not who I am.” I don't want to play for these reasons. I want to get healthy and be ready for the playoffs.
“A lot of guys would do that and go out there and do it, and there's no disdain for them. But the kind of teammate Travis was, he couldn't do that because he knew it wasn't about him; it was about the team.”
Defensive lineman Chris Jones played 46 snaps to get a sack, giving him 10.5 on the season and a $1.25 million incentive in his contract. However, Kelsey had no financial incentive.
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