Unsportsmanlike Conduct & A Horrible Role Model

Underground USA

I didn’t watch the Super Bowl so I am making my points based on the extensive social media coverage of Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce going unhinged on his coach. Kelce – or as I like to refer to him, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend – exhibited not only a complete disregard for being a team player at a critical moment in the game, but he executed a horrific example of who he is as a role model.

Now, I get that professional athletes – as with any performer or entertainer – have to have an elevated level of self-esteem. It would be hard to execute at a professional level in any genre that finds you performing at your peak in front of tens of thousands of people. But there is a fine line between embracing that necessary self-esteem to perform under pressure and being a jagoff.

The moment Travis Kelce stepped into his coach's face, screaming and spitting, he crossed the line from thoroughbred athlete to jagoff.

As I stated in the first segment of today’s broadcast, during Super Bowl 20 (and no I am not going to use the haute Roman numerals), with the Chicago Bears leading the New England Patriots by an insurmountable margin, Chicago’s coach, Mike Ditka, opted to use William “The Refrigerator” Perry in a scoring drive rather than his ace running back – and arguably one of the best running backs in the history of the game – Walter Payton.

“The Fridge” was a defensive player, so the choice was one of psychological and emotional domination toward the Patriots; the proverbial sword in the neck, so to speak.

The problem here is this. Walter Payton – a career-long member of the Chicago Bears, a premier player, worked like a workhorse in many a losing season, was denied the opportunity to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl. The opportunity was there. But he was denied that opportunity.

At no time, from the moment of that decision until well after the McCaskey’s pre-maturely dismantled that dynasty-worthy team, did anyone – anywhere – see Walter Payton screaming into the face of Coach Ditka. It never happened.

Now is as good a time as any to ask why. Payton certainly had the right to protest the decision. The greatest running back ever to play the game (many would agree) and the coach, to prove a point of dominance, lets a defensive lineman score a touchdown rather than allowing for a career crowning achievement for the league’s premier running back?

The reason Payton didn’t throw a temper tantrum like Kelce is that Payton was a true sportsman and one who knew, no matter what, that every time he put on that uniform and/or took the field, he was seen as a role model for millions of young football fans. He took his profession seriously and part of that responsibility is knowing what that opportunity requires in public.

I hear people channeling Charles Barkley right now in his protest that he never signed on to be a role model. That’s is a hollow argument and I suspect even Barkley knows it.

When you make your money performing for the public – whether that performance is in sports, the arts, or whatever – it comes with the automatic assumption of role model status. Superstars know this. Mediocre one-trick ponies complain about it.

I would look to the NFL to discipline Kelce but this is the same woke organization that knowingly sought to insert the divide of racism into Sunday’s Super Bowl by setting the precedent of playing a “Black national anthem.” I don’t believe there could be a bigger insult to the fallen and/or those who wear the uniform and sacrifice every day. So, I don’t hold out hope for the NFL doing anything but counting their 30 pieces of silver as our nation suffers a manufactured divide.

That said, if I were the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Mr. Kelce would be having a “come to Jesus” moment regarding his bank account and his career options in the coming weeks. No one player is a franchise. If Kelce were kicked to the curb the Chiefs would still be a favorite for the 2025 Super Bowl.

Kelce should publicly apologize to his coach and make a significant sacrifice to mend his now-tarnished image. And, I can only hope, that his billionaire girlfriend has the wherewithal to explain to her boyfriend his massive mistake and urge him to do the right thing. Otherwise, they deserve each other.

There is no “I” in “team”, Mr. Kelce. Don’t be a jagoff.

Then, this morning’s segment on America; 's Third Watch, broadcast on the Salem and Genesis Communications Networks.

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