Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce gave fans a brief heart attack during Sunday’s Week 9 showdown with the Buffalo Bills after taking a nasty hit that had everyone holding their breath. Thankfully, the tight end bounced back quickly, but it isn’t his recovery that is going viral on social media. Instead, it was the Buffalo crowd’s reaction. When Kelce went down, parts of the stadium actually cheered, and that didn’t sit right with a lot of people.
Bills fans face criticism over Travis Kelce’s injury reaction
Late in the second quarter, Travis Kelce took a brutal hit from Bills safety Cole Bishop while trying to snag a pass from Patrick Mahomes. The collision caught him square in the chest.
For a moment, Chiefs fans held their breath as Kelce stayed down, but he eventually got up and walked off the field on his own before halftime. Thankfully, not long after, CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson reported that Kelce was checked out and cleared to return right after the break.
However, the real drama came from the stands. As the 36-year-old stayed down after that brutal hit, parts of the Buffalo crowd started cheering. The moment instantly went viral, and fans across the country weren’t having it.
Social media blew up, calling the reaction “classless” and “embarrassing.” The reaction broke one of NF’s golden rules: never celebrate when a player’s hurt or down. The backlash only poured more fuel on one of the NFL’s fiercest rivalries. The Chiefs and Bills have traded playoff heartbreaks for years, and tension between their fanbases is always sky-high.
Turner Sports host Adam Lefkoe, who is also a close friend of the Kelce family, even said, “I think it kind of shocked the Kelce family and everyone related to them — the reception they got.”
Kelce also turned to the crowd and cupped his ear, as if to say, Didn’t quite catch that, Buffalo. However, some fans think the crowd’s reaction has more to do with the attention he is getting. Travis Kelce’s high-profile romance with Taylor Swift has turned every Chiefs game into a pop-culture circus, and not everyone is loving it.
Originally reported by Rishabh Shandilya on Mandatory.
