Gronk: When Travis Kelce dismissed Rob Gronkowski's accolades, crowning himself as best TE in NFL

When Travis Kelce dismissed Rob Gronkowski's accolades, crowning himself as best TE in NFL

Modified Jan 04, 2025 17:20 GMT

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Kansas City Chiefs TE, Travis Kelce loves to have fun on the field and off it. Just like his teammate, Patrick Mahomes, he is a confident man who doesn’t shy away from speaking his heart. When Kelce was invited by Dan Patrick to his show in November 2018, he was asked about the best tight end in the league.

Kelce named himself without hesitation and said:

"Travis Kelce, myself. I personally take that and try and make that a definitive answer every single year."

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Travis Kelce speaks up on the comparison with Rob Gronkowski

Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs and Rob Gronkowski of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers chat at the NFL Honors show at the YouTube Theater on February 10, 2022 in Inglewood, California. - Source: Getty

To some, Kelce may seem a bit cocky or smug but in the 2018-19 season, Kelce finished with 103 receptions from 16 games for 1336 receiving yards and 10 TDs. Those were his best numbers till then, so some of his confidence was rooted in his performances.

“I know I've been up in questions with Gronk the past couple of years," Kelce said. "That's very deserving for Gronk, Gronk's a hell of a player. But this year, I mean, obviously I'm always trying to one up and take it to the next level.”

Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) made the position widely popular among this generation of fans during his tenure with the Patriots. He finished his career with 621 receptions from 143 games, yielding 9286 receiving yards for 92 TDs. Kelce has already overtaken Gronkowski today, except in TDs; he has 77.

The two stars met twice during the 2018-19 season, Gronkowski had the upper hand in the regular season game with 3 receptions for 97 yards, including a 39-yard catch in the final drive. In the post-season matchup, Kelce scored 1 TD from 3 receptions for 23 yards. The Patriots triumphed on both occasions.

During his chat with Dan Patrick, Kelce also acknowledged the impact of other TEs in the league like Zach Ertz, Delanie Walker, Greg Olsen