Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs have arrived in snowy Buffalo ahead of the game that will determine whether they move onto another or end their season tomorrow.
The team touched down in the frigid New York town just before 4pm with Kelce, 34, cutting a striking figure against the wintry sky in mustard yellow suit, striped shirt, beanie hat and shades.
Unsmiling and with his jaw set Kelce wore air pods as he deplaned. He put his hand on his head and adjusted his collar as he stepped into the frigid afternoon.
And if he looked particularly stone-faced perhaps it was little wonder as, shortly before Kelce and team boarded their flight in Kansas, Missouri, he learned that police had arrested an alleged stalker trying to break into girlfriend Taylor Swift’s Manhattan apartment.
The man to whom NYPD referred as ‘David’ was taken into custody around 1pm having been picked up by cops on the streets of Tribeca after a failed attempt to get into 34-year-old Swift’s building.
Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs have landed in Buffalo for Sunday’s playoff game
Kelce and his team landed at 4pm in Buffalo, with the tight end immediately feeling the cold
Kelce and the Chiefs have to win tomorrow vs. the Bills or their NFL season will be over
Kelce’s teammate, the Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, looked suave as he left the plane
As Kelce left the plane, he and his team boarded a bus waiting at the steps to take them away
Beanie szn. pic.twitter.com/GBTwBwB4rr
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 20, 2024
Arriving in Buffalo, no doubt keen to shake his natural concerns and focus on Sunday’s game, Kelce followed quarterback Patrick Mahomes – dapper in a chocolate pinstripe suit, pocket square and grey tie – to where six coaches waited to take them to a Buffalo hotel.
Once there, a small gaggle of Chief’s fans cheered their arrival while a clutch of Bills fans made their own feelings perfectly clear with yells of, ‘Go home!’
The team were later filmed arriving at their Buffalo hotel to cheers from fans, but one ardent Bills fan could be heard shouting ‘you suck, Kelce’ as he made his way indoors.
Swift is expected to be at Buffalo’s Highmark stadium tomorrow to watch tomorrow’s AFC divisional playoff game where the Chiefs will meet the Bills and, for the first time, she is expected to meet her NFL stud’s brother, Jason.
The older Kelce has been at the center of the NFL headlines this week, with intense speculation that he could retire from the game after his Philadelphia Eagles team lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
He apparently told the Eagles locker room that he was going to retire but has so far stopped short of making a formal announcement. But in the meantime, with a free weekend, Jason and his wife are cheering Travis and the Chiefs on.
Speaking this week on the New Heights podcast that Travis and Jason host together, the Chiefs star underlined how much he is looking forward to playing against the hardcore Buffalo fanbase – the Bills Mafia.
He mischievously downplayed the impact they could have on the game at Highmark Stadium, saying: ‘It’s Bills Mafia, man. That’s their home-field advantage. I’m sure the guys love playing for that fan base.
Travis adjusted his jacket as soon as he stepped off the plane on Saturday afternoon
Kelce and the Chiefs can expect to play in bitterly cold conditions in Buffalo on Sunday
Travis is set to have his brother Jason cheering him on from the stands on Sunday evening
Chiefs coach Andy Reid was also pictured leaving the plane alongside his wife, Tammy
‘I grew up in Cleveland man. They were throwing beer bottles at people!’
The Bills beat the Chiefs in Week 14 in the NFL – at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, no less – but Travis warned that it’s a different team taking to the field on Sunday night.
‘I think right now it’s just a different energy in our building at least,’ Travis said to Jason.
‘ I just think it’s the way our defense is playing, our offense is clicking and how we’re playing together man. We’re just having a lot of fun out there, going to work and balling out man and I love that feeling. I love that feeling.
‘I love the challenge of having to go to Buffalo, a hostile environment and trying to find a way to win when it’s single elimination.’