When the Kansas City Chiefs were knocking on the door deep in the red zone last Thursday against the Chargers, safety Derwin James made a huge hit, slamming tight end Travis Kelce to the turf and denying a would-be touchdown late in the third quarter.
On Wednesday, Travis and his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason, broke down the play on their weekly podcast, “New Heights.”
Jason asked Travis how it felt to get body slammed by James in front of a national audience. To which Travis responded:
“Well, it’s not my first time getting powerbombed,” said Kelce. “I made a cutback, and then all of a sudden, he’s on me like lightning! I mean, he surprised the sh** out of me. The lower man always wins in football. When I felt him wrap his arms around my legs, I’m chuckling in my mind; I’m like, ‘This is not about to end well for me right now. I’m going up, and what goes up must come down!” he chuckled. “The body slam was funny, but what was even more comical was the fact that [James] asked me after that play or after that drive like ‘bro, you good?'”
The NFL fined James $15,609 for the WWE-style tackle despite no penalty at the time the play was made. The Chiefs were inevitably kept out of the end zone on that drive, settling for Matt Ammendola to drive in a 19-yard field goal which tied the game at 17 a piece to begin the fourth quarter.
Kansas City came out victorious after the final whistle. Kelce finished the game with five catches for 51 yards, and James finished with nine total tackles (six solo). Kansas City will play the Chargers again at SoFi Stadium on November 20.
