Chiefs players wear custom Travis Kelce T-shirts before Chargers game as tight end faces football criticism

The Kansas City Chiefs are sticking together.

The team’s wide receivers, Rashee Rice, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, all wore custom Travis Kelce T-shirts for their game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday after the tight end faced criticism for how he played.

According to CBS Sports reporter Tracy Wolfson, it was Rice who bought the team’s jerseys “in honor of their leader and a man who guided them all.”

The front of the black T-shirts feature Kelce’s first and last name written in Chiefs colors and several images of the athlete playing football.

The back of the shirt read “Dreamathon,” the brand responsible for the custom T-shirt, with more images of Kelce, 34, in uniform.

While there isn’t currently a Kelce jersey available on the Dreamathon site, fans can score one in honor of players like Patrick Mahomes ($60).

This seems to be a recurring theme for the attacking players; Last week, they wore the same Dreamathon designs in support of running back Isiah Pacheco, who was injured in the September 15 game against the Bengals.

The team’s endorsement of the “No Heights” podcast co-host comes after he faced public criticism for his slow start to the 2024 to 2025 NFL season.

On Monday, former ESPN analyst Todd McShay blamed Kelce’s recent playing skills for his newfound fame and “jet-setting” lifestyle amid his romance with Taylor Swift.

“Every show I watch, every pregame show, halftime show, postgame show, midweek show, every broadcast I watch over the last few weeks, it’s like, can’t we just say he’s out of shape?” McShay, 47, asked bluntly.

‘That he’s been partying all season? He’s flying around with probably the most famous person in the world.”

McShay then detailed how Kelce had been drinking and partying with the ‘Bad Blood’ singer, also 34, in New York City earlier this month while attending the US Open.

“I want you to take a picture of the 2022 preseason and then a picture of the 2024 preseason. They are hardly the same people,” he said.

Two days later, Travis addressed his play on his podcast with his brother, Jason Kelce, admitting that he could play “better” football.

“We’re finding ways to win games, but we’re not playing our best football,” he said on last week’s episode of his “New Heights” podcast.

“Anyone can clean it up. I think everyone saw my fall in the fourth quarter with that crucial third down.

The ‘Grotesquerie’ actor said he was ‘trying to do too much before putting the ball away’ and that he needed to focus more on ‘making plays in big moments’.

“I think with the way defenses are playing us at the moment, I don’t really get many opportunities to take action on the pitch, but I’m not using that as an excuse,” he continued.

“Going forward, I’m still trying to make sure I can help the team in that regard.”