nd bodychecking the Chiefs coach on the sideline, to the point of staggering the 65-year-old. Kelce looked upset about Reid’s decision to take him off the field in the second quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl as the Chiefs drove towards the San Francisco 49ers’ goalline. Right when the Chiefs were poised to score, running back Isiah Pacheco coughed up the ball, and San Francisco recovered to preserve a 3-0 lead.

Reactions to Kelce’s outburst came swift and strong. “Hey kids, don’t ever mix your 7th COVID Booster with Bud Light,” the conservative commentator Benny Johnson wrote on X, nodding at Kelce’s endorsement relationships with Pfizer and Anheuser-Busch’s“If that was me, I would’ve been kicked out of the league,” tweeted Philadelphia Eagles receiver AJ Brown, suggesting racial bias may have been at play in the referees’ decision not to eject Kelce from the game.

No doubt if it had been Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb, Pittsburgh’s George Pickens or another Black receiver unloading on his coach like that, the prevailing narrative would be much different. But Kelce’s white privilege along with his standing as the very best at his position affords him great latitude; it makes him passionate, not overly aggressive.

CBS’s Tony Romo was quick to downplay the incident, calmly explaining that Kelce just wanted back in the game to help his team win – and, sure enough, he was back on the field for Kansas City’s next possession