KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - At 36 years old, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce made some additional history to open the 2026 season.
With his second catch of the night, a 58-yard catch-and-run to beat a Denver blitz in the third quarter, Kelce surpassed Dallas Cowboys legend Jason Witten for the second-most receiving yards by a tight end in NFL history.
“Three (receptions) for 71 (yards) is pretty good for an old man,” head coach Andy Reid said of the performance following Kansas City’s 31-10 victory over Broncos.
Kelce entered the night needing 44 yards to surpass Witten for second place. A slow start to the Chiefs’ passing attack (with Patrick Mahomes starting 2-for-10 passing) in turn led to a slow start for Kelce as well.
His first catch of the game came in the second quarter, and he still finished with just three receptions on a night Kansas City only completed 15 passes.
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After the catch that moved him into second place, ESPN’s ‘Monday Night Football’ cameras caught Kelce’s brother, Jason, and his wife, Taylor Swift, celebrating in a suite at Arrowhead Stadium.
But the third quarter chunk for Kelce got him the record and helped Kansas City respond to Denver’s only scoring drive of the second half. According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Kelce’s 54 yards gained after the catch was his most YAC on a reception in nearly a decade -- dating back to Week 16 in 2016 against the Broncos.
Kelce now has 13,073 receiving yards for his career, which just began year 14. Former Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez holds the all-time record for tight ends with 15,127 receiving yards.
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