On Wednesday, Kansas City Chiefs fans watched jubilantly as tight end Travis Kelce caught his 77th touchdown with the team—the most in franchise history—against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The moment was significant because of who Kelce supplanted: fellow tight end and franchise icon Tony Gonzalez, a Hall of Famer who made 10 Pro Bowls in his 12-year stint with the team from 1997 to 2008. After scoring the record-breaking touchdown, Kelce imitated Gonzalez’s signature celebration by dunking the football over the crossbar.
Kelce drew a flag for the celebration, but a supportive Gonzalez has already vowed to pay the future Hall of Famer’s fine.
HOLIDAY TOUCHDOWN FOR TRAVIS‼️ pic.twitter.com/sqgtsd0r1K
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 25, 2024
Gonzalez, in addition to a successful football career at California, played three basketball seasons for the Golden Bears (he dropped 23 points in the second round of the 1997 NCAA tournament against Villanova).
Kelce may not have the basketball pedigree of his forebear, but now he has accomplished something even the great Gonzalez never did on the football field.
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Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .
