KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. He also covers the Chiefs as our game-day digital reporter. Share your story idea with Tod.
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It’s rare to find something Travis Kelce hasn’t done in a 13-year Hall of Fame career, but he's eager to tread new ground Thursday in Dallas.
“I’m pumped,” Kelce said Sunday after a 23-20 comeback win against Indianapolis in overtime. “It’s my first time ever playing on Thanksgiving.”
It’s been 19 years since the Chiefs last played on Thanksgiving.
Kansas City — which is 5-5 on Turkey Day, losing its only previous Thanksgiving visit to the Cowboys (24-12 in 1995) — has become a Christmas Day staple.
The Chiefs will play on the holiday for a third straight season next month, but they haven’t played on Thanksgiving since hosting the Denver Broncos at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in 2006, when the NFL added a night game to the pigskin buffet.
Kelce was a junior quarterback for the Cleveland Heights Tigers back then, so he’s thrilled for a turn in the Thanksgiving spotlight.
“Hell yeah, I like playing on holidays, man,” Kelce said. “It’s fun. I know everybody’s sitting down, eating all the food they can possibly get and enjoying the family time. There’s nothing that goes better than football and Thanksgiving, baby.”
It’s also a big game for Kelce’s partner-in-crime, Patrick Mahomes, who has yet to return home for an NFL game. Mahomes grew up in Tyler, Texas, which is located 100 miles southeast of Dallas.
“We’ve got to win for him,” Kelce said. “You can’t go back home with any Ls, man.”
Kelce has enjoyed his two trips back to Cleveland for games with the visiting Chiefs.
He had seven catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns in a 2018 win against the Browns, and he had four catches for 27 yards during last December’s win at Huntington Bank Field.
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