For half of Super Bowl LVIII, it looked like Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was going to be a footnote: At halftime he had just one catch for one yard, and his first half was notable mostly because he screamed at and bumped into Chiefs coach Andy Reid on the sideline.
And by the end of the Super Bowl, Kelce was the game’s leading receiver.
Kelce caught eight passes for 92 yards in the second half and overtime, and his totals of nine catches for 93 yards were the most of any player on either the 49ers or the Chiefs.
Among the key Kelce plays were a 22-yard catch-and-run on third-and-7 with 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter, which turned the Chiefs’ overtime-forcing field goal from a 51-yarder into a chip shot, and his tough seven-yard gain in overtime that set up the game-winning touchdown on the next play.
Kelce is the NFL’s all-time leader in postseason catches, and he once again stepped up when it mattered most for another signature performance in his Hall of Fame career.