Kansas City’s 35-24 victory that day earned the Chiefs their first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years, along with the NFL’s next dynasty. So it wasn’t the last time Kelce ranted about the Chiefs and their fans’ right to cheer, but it was certainly memorable — and according to Nantz, it wasn’t meant to be.
“There was a show that premiered on CBS after the AFC Championship game. … You got someone, not a running commentary, but a producer, telling you where you need to go next,” Nantz said. “So, I got up there with the Lamar Hunt trophy, and I got Clark Hunt, and I got Andy here, and I got Patrick. And [Travis is] on Patrick, and they’re telling me, ‘We’ve got to get through this. Do it real quick. No follow-up questions, just one question for coach and one question for Pat.'”
Nantz, seeing a glint in Kelce’s eye and perhaps a moment in the making, went rogue.
He relented almost immediately as Kelce’s celebratory call hung in the air with fear at a predatory dance in the venerable commentator’s mind.
“The ‘F’ of the fight dragged on for so long,” Nantz said.
All’s well that ends well – luckily for Nantz.
“And I thought, not only have I been guilty of insubordination, I just walked into an F-bomb on CBS, maybe,” Nantz said. “And I was so relieved that the word came out with FI instead of F-whatever. And it was, ‘You Gotta Fight For Your Right to Party.’ And I said, ‘You got it, we’re out of here. James Brown, back to you.’ And you got everything to sing.”
Two weeks later, Kelce won his first Super Bowl with the Chiefs. Two more would follow, leading to plenty of parties after countless battles at the top.