Travis Kelce gives blunt response to Athlete of the Year nomination: ‘F—ing nonsense’

Kelce is among superstars like LeBron James and Simone Biles nominated for the award

Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce was nominated for Athlete of the Year in the People’s Choice Awards.

Apparently, Kelce wouldn’t vote for himself.

“F—ing nonsense,” Kelce said on his “New Heights” podcast with his older brother, Jason Kelce.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half of a game Nov. 26, 2023, in Las Vegas.  (AP Photo/John Locher)

“What did I do to get Athlete of the Year? I did ‘SNL,’” Kelce added.

Kelce was among a star-studded group of nominees who include LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, Coco Gauff, Lionel Messi, Sabrina Ionescu and Simone Biles.

Despite his thoughts on the matter, Kelce had quite a 2022 season, which ended with a Chiefs Super Bowl victory over his older brother’s Philadelphia Eagles in February. Kelce had his seventh straight season of over 1,000 receiving yards, hauling in 110 passes for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2022.

However, the 2023 season wasn’t a typical one for Kelce, who failed to keep his 1,000-yard streak going. He fell short, totaling 984 yards receiving.

The Chiefs did, however, move on to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, defeating the Miami Dolphins in frigid temperatures at home last weekend. Kelce caught seven passes for 71 yards on 10 targets in the win.

Off the field, Kelce’s stardom has been magnified due to his relationship with music megastar Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce (Getty Images)

The “Swiftie” army has been fully invested in this relationship, and so is the rest of the NFL world. Swift, nominated for five People’s Choice Awards, has appeared at several Chiefs games, including the frozen battle in Kansas City Saturday night.

But Kelce never brought that up when discussing his nomination, saying, “How am I on this?”

Jason thinks the listeners of the podcast should rig the People’s Choice voting to have his brother win the award.

Travis Kelce of the Chiefs during pregame warmups Oct. 1, 2023. (Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com/USA Today Network)

The Chiefs will head to Buffalo this weekend to take on the Bills and Josh Allen, who has yet to defeat Kansas City in the postseason.

Kelce helped force overtime in a 2021 AFC divisional round classic that ended with him securing the overtime touchdown to move on.