Former ESPN Analyst Blasts Travis Kelce for Offseason Lifestyle, Being Out of Shape

Kristen Wong | Sep 24, 2024

Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Travis Kelce’s slow start to the NFL season has the media in a frenzy with every analyst weighing in on how the Kansas City Chiefs should address the situation. 

Kelce, who turns 35 in October, has just eight catches for 69 yards through three games and is also coming off a down year in which he failed to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in nearly a decade. 

Amid Kelce’s lackluster production of late, former ESPN analyst Todd McShay blamed the Chiefs tight end’s sluggish start on his offseason lifestyle and physical conditioning.

“Every broadcast I’ve watched for the last few weeks, it’s like, are we not allowed to say that he’s out of shape?” McShay said on The Ryen Russillo Podcast. “That he’s been partying all offseason? He’s been jet-setting around with the most famous person probably in the entire world, that he’s drinking, going to the U.S. Open, he’s got cocktails in.”

Russillo then pushed back on McShay’s argument, claiming that a few drinks don’t necessarily make Kelce a bad athlete. McShay nonetheless continued hammering away at his point.

“What I do know is, I want you to take a picture from preseason 2022 and then take a picture preseason 2024. They’re barely the same human being, Ryan,” said McShay. “And everyone’s like, ‘We gotta get him the ball. Why isn’t he part of the offense? The defense is double-covering him.’ Here’s the thing, bottom line with Kelce, the coverage and the respect he gets is the same—the athlete is not… He’s not in the same shape. He’s not the same. I don’t see the same explosiveness. I see him wearing down a bit in-game.”

Despite Kelce’s visible struggles, the Chiefs are 3-0 in the regular season and will look to extend their winning streak against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4.

Kelce may not look like he’s in peak form at the moment, but the grizzled veteran has a recent history of turning things up a notch when his team needs him most and could find himself once again the focal point of Patrick Mahomes’s offense down the stretch. 

---

More of the Latest Around the NFL

feed