A 3-peat wasn’t in the script for Travis Kelce after all. A season that had more ups and downs from the very beginning ended with tears in New Orleans. But at least Kelce etched some personal history that no player in 59 seasons of Super Bowl history has ever managed to do. Not that it will matter to Kelce, but a record is a record. And one season of failure cannot define how big of a player Kelce is actually, not just in Kansas City—but in the whole football realm.

See, playing his fifth Super Bowl in 6 years, Kelce already had 31 receptions to his name. And he only needed three more to surpass Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s Super Bowl reception record. The 49ers legendary wide receiver caught 33 receptions in his four Super Bowl appearances with Joe Montana as his QB. As for Kelce, it didn’t look like he would even manage to catch one pass after going blank in the first half. With the Chiefs already facing down the barrel of a humiliating loss, Kelce sprung up with four catches in the second half.

His 4 receptions for 39 yards helped him surpass Jerry Rice’s record, which stood for almost 3 decades. But those aren’t the only records of Rice; Kelce has made his own. Last season, the Chiefs TE’s 152nd postseason reception, which came against the Ravens in the AFC Championship game, helped break Rice’s all-time playoff reception record. Even this season, Kelce continued that streak into the postseason.

After failing to light up the gridiron in the regular season, Kelce had one of his best games against the Texans in the Divisional round. His 117-receiving yard game helped him match yet another record of Rice. That was Kelce’s ninth postseason game, where he surpassed 100 receiving yards. However, there are a few more records of Rice that Kelce may never manage to outmaneuver. Jerry still owns a single-game receiving yards record (215), receiving TD record (8), and receiving yards (589), all in the Super Bowl. And at 35, it doesn’t look like Kelce will ever breach those records, even if he plays until 40.

Now, whatever positives he garnered through breaking a Super Bowl record. His mood remained somber for failing to reach his ultimate goal while shifting some of the blame on Patrick Mahomes’ shoulder.

Travis Kelce may have indirectly blamed Patrick Mahomes for Super Bowl LIX loss

Everyone in Kansas City knew what the stakes were heading into Super Bowl LIX. It was something that may never occur again in the franchise’s history. A chance to go down as the first team to three-peat after eight before them failed to do so. However, a game where they needed to start on the front foot blew up on their face. Mahomes only passed for 33 yards while having a passer rating of 10.7 in the first half. As for the Eagles, they ran riot, opening up a huge 24-0 gap going into the second half. Yeah, Mahomes did end up finishing his night with a passer rating of 95.4. Because of his two garbage-time TDs and a pass completion percentage of 65.6.

But those things didn’t really mean anything, as Kelce pointed out after the loss, “We just couldn’t find that spark. We couldn’t find that momentum.” Like two of Mahomes interceptions actually killed the game for the Chiefs. One was a pick-6 by Cooper DeJean on his 22nd birthday, and the other INT also led to a TD from the Chiefs’ 20. However, Mahomes, like a true leader in the locker room, took full responsibility for the loss.

He came out after the game with a message on X for the Kansas City faithful, “Appreciate all the love and support from #ChiefsKingdom. I let y’all down today. I’ll always continue to work and try and learn and be better for it. Want to give thanks to God for every opportunity he has given me. We will be back.” There was also the moment when he dapped his teammates after the game while sharing a hug with Kelce. So, whatever he did wrong, Mahomes has owned up for his mistakes. And one game can’t take away anything from a QB who has already achieved so much before turning 30. It’s crazy to say he may not have peaked yet. And the best is surely yet to come from Patrick Mahomes.