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Travis Kelce admitted that his teammate Harrison Butker’s position might be making a shift due to changing NFL kickoff rules. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, explained that the team has a different view of how Harrison, 28, should be utilized with the new rule changes for kickoffs during a recent episode of his New Heights podcast on Wednesday, June 5.
The NFL announced new kickoff rules back in March. The new rule adjusts the alignment for the kicking team and allows teammates to run when the ball falls in the landing zone or the end zone. It also affects how many players will be in the receiving zone. Due to the new rules and formations, kickers may be getting involved in tackling, which Travis said his team doesn’t “want Butker in those situations.” The new rules can be read in full on the NFL website.
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Travis’ brother and co-host Jason Kelce gave a more straightforward explanation of how this would affect the game for fans. “All of this is aimed at actually making kickoffs meaningful, which I’m a fan of,” he said, per Us Weekly. “Football is better when special teams matter. The reality is, the old kickoff was not a kickoff. It was a ceremonial boot through the end zone and nobody ever returned anything.”
While talking about his teammate’s changing position, Travis admitted that he still thinks that the kicker is a talented player. “Obviously it’s not because Harrison can’t do it,” he said. “He’s one of the best guys in the league at doing it. He’s got one of the best legs in the game. He typically kicks it into the stands, through the end zone when he does kick off.”
Travis’ explanation of Harrison’s changing role on the team comes nearly a month after the kicker’s controversial comments about women working and Pride month at Benedictine College’s commencement ceremony. Shortly after the speech, Travis shared his thoughts on the controversial speech. “I’ve known him for seven-plus, eight-plus years and I cherish him as a teammate,” Travis said on New Heights. “I can’t say I agree with the majority of it — or just about any of [his speech] — outside of just him loving his family or his kids. I don’t think I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views of how he goes about life.”
