Travis Kelce Opens Up About the Physical Reaction His Body Had During 4th Coldest Football Game
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JANUARY 13: Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs warms up before the AFC Wild Card Playoffs against the Miami Dolphins at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 13, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Travis Kelce said the “shocking” low temperatures his team experienced during last weekend’s NFL game led some players to get creative with how they attempted to keep their bodies warm.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end spoke about the chilly Jan. 13 game against the Miami Dolphins during the latest episode of New Heights, the podcast he co-hosts with his brother, Jason Kelce. Jason, a center for the Philadelphia Eagles, mentioned that the Chiefs-Dolphins game was the fourth-coldest in NFL history as the brothers’ discussion about the game began.
“You’re by the heaters, you’re in the locker room—then, when you go out on the field, the temperature just drops,” Travis said in the new episode, which the brothers released on Wednesday. “And you feel it in your hands, you feel it in your toes, your face.”
The podcast’s video recording then showed a photo taken during the game of Chiefs Coach Andy Reid. In the photo, Reid’s mustache appears frozen as he yells instructions to his players on the field.
“I could feel my mustache hardening up,” Travis said. “It was shocking how cold it was.”
The windchill during the Chiefs-Dolphins game likely made the conditions feel much colder for fans like Travis’ girlfriend, Taylor Swift, who was cheering him on from her box in the stadium. The “Blank Space” singer drew attention during the game with her custom-made Chiefs jacket, which appeared to keep her warm as she sported Travis’ #87.
As far as the windchill went, Travis said it was hard for the players to notice the difference.
“It was almost like it was so cold the wind just never touched you,” he said. “It just slid right past your icy face.”
Travis said this was the first game he recalls ever having to rush back to the heaters to warm up between plays. The heaters “were really the only thing” that made a difference, he added.
Even so, some players used hand warmers in an attempt to prevent their hands and feet from going numb. One player, whom Travis declined to identify, even wound up with “golf-sized blisters” on each of their feet after sticking hand warmers inside their cleats.
It was -4 degrees during the Jan. 13 kickoff at the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium, with the temperature later dropping to -9 degrees, according to CNN. The coldest game in NFL history was on New Year’s Eve in 1967, when the Green Bay Packers played the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field. The temperature during that game, which the NFL now refers to as “The Ice Bowl,” dropped to -13 degrees.
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