At Red Carpet Event, Chiefs Talk About How Team Is Like Family in ESPN Series

Travis Kelce declined to do interviews at Sunday night’s red carpet event for the screening of the ESPN docuseries “The Kingdom” at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. But Kelce, the Chiefs tight end, stopped twice on the red carpet.

Once was when 12-year-old social-media star Taylen Biggs asked for a selfie.

“I love that horse,” Kelce said as he looked at Biggs’ phone.

“Aw,” she replied, “thank you.”

As he walked away, Kelce told Biggs: “You’re killing it.”

Next up was crashing Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s interview with a gaggle of TV reporters.

“Best guy here, man,” Kelce said. “I’ll see you in there, Coach.”

Kelce and Reid have known one another for 13 years and their relationship is that of a father and son. In fact, that’s how many of the players view Reid in Kansas City.

“That’s a great compliment,” Reid said Sunday night. “That might be the best compliment you could have.”

Relationships and family are a big part of The Kingdom, both on and off the field. Among the highlights are a deep dive into Reid’s family life and superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ time as a father.

Chiefs CEO and chairman Clark Hunt appreciates that coming through in the docuseries.

“That’s one of the best parts about the documentary is how it showed the human side of so many of the people who were important to the pursuit of that three-peat last year, whether they’re players or coaches,” Hunt said. “A lot of times we forget that they’re human beings and sort of think they’re robots who go out there and perform on Sunday. But they’re not. They’re amazing individuals.”

He added, “And I think in some cases, we learned a lot about the individuals, and why they’re so successful as football players has a lot to do with the people they are, including Andy, of course.”

Chiefs president Mark Donovan spoke highly of running back Kareem Hunt, detailing his return to the team.

Hunt was released by the Chiefs in November 2018 after he lied to the team when a video showed an off-field incident in which he shoved and kicked a woman. But he returned last season and played a key role as the Chiefs advanced to Super Bowl LIX.

It wasn’t easy for him to open up about that part of his life.

“It was good, but it’s one of those things that’s never easy,” Hunt said. “I’m grateful to be able to have the opportunity to be back here and play ball again for the Chiefs. I just think they did a great job putting it all together, my story. I don’t ever like talking about it. I kind of try to forget about it.”

While Kelce joined Hunt, quarterback Mahomes (and wife Brittany) and defensive end George Karlaftis at Sunday’s screening, his girlfriend wasn’t on hand.

No surprise about that. Superstar singer Taylor Swift has a busy life. But Swift is featured in the third episode of the Chiefs docuseries, and on Sunday Donovan explained why. It’s another important relationship.

“I don’t think we added Taylor to this,” Donovan said. “She’s an authentic member of the kingdom. She went to games, she cheered, she was part of it. So I think it would be foolish to try to ignore the biggest star in the world, as she’s part of your family.

He added, “I think they did a good job of being respectful and tasteful in doing that. She’s a superpower. When she walks in the room, you feel it, and when she walks in our building, we know it, and our fans know it. And we have really concentrated on being respectful of the relationship that Taylor and Travis have, to welcome her and treat her as a member of our family and keep it as normal as we possibly can. And it’s really hard with a superstar like that; that’s really one of the things we focus on, is just keep it normal for them. Let her be a fan and let her be a part of the Kingdom.”