After making it through his NFL career without putting a hand on Chuck Noll, Terry Bradshaw seemed surprised by Travis Kelce’s altercation with Andy Reid.
It’s been a minute since NFL fans heard from Bradshaw. With CBS hosting Super Bowl LVIII and Bradshaw missing Fox’s NFC Championship coverage due to an illness, there was plenty for the Hall of Fame quarterback to catch up on during his Thursday afternoon appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. Near the start of the interview, Eisen asked Bradshaw about Kelce bumping Reid on the sideline during the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22 Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
“I felt bad for Andy because Andy had had hip surgery,” Bradshaw admitted to Eisen. “He had his game plan in his hand. And when Kelce went over, Kelce didn’t push him, Kelce went over and he accidentally bumped him, I don’t think he pushed him or anything. It was an accident, but it looked bad on television.”
It certainly would have been something if Reid toppled over and his play sheet went flying onto the field. I’m also not sure whether Reid’s recent hip surgery was as widely known as Bradshaw made it seem.
As Reid laughed off the altercation after the game, the 65-year-old NFL head coach did joke that the bump from Kelce “tested that hip out.” So he probably doesn’t mind Bradshaw referencing his surgery.
Bradshaw added that he texted Reid after the game and was surprised to immediately get a response from the Chiefs head coach amid all the pomp and circumstance that comes with winning the Super Bowl.
“Nothing about Kelce,” Bradshaw said of the text he received from Reid. “Kelce felt bad and it’s over. They won the football game.”
Winning the football game undoubtedly allowed the Chiefs to downplay Kelce berating and bumping Reid on the sideline. Kyle Shanahan also did his part in tempering the story for Kansas City when his controversial late-game decision-making highlighted the fact that some 49ers player weren’t aware of the overtime rules.
But had the Chiefs lost, or if Reid fell, dropped his play sheet and reversed whatever hip surgery he had, Kelce bumping his head coach would have been one of the most controversial incidents in Super Bowl history. It may have even qualified as the “mess” Joe Buck predicted for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. Instead, it’s a moment that evaded much of the backlash it may have deserved.
