Super Bowl LIV: Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce the life of the party in South Florida

AVENTURA, Fla.— Travis Kelce wants everyone to know that you’ve got to fight for your right to party.

That’s what the Chiefs’ Pro Bowl tight end plans to do in his first Super Bowl appearance — fight for his right to party on Sunday night.

“You’re talking about a moment you’ve been waiting for your entire life,” Kelce said Tuesday in a conference room at the team hotel. “To finally be here it’s pretty surreal. I don’t see it meaning much unless we come out with a win.”

If the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV you can bet that one of the first things Kelce will say into a microphone is, “You’ve got to fight for your right to party.” Kelce did that inside Arrowhead Stadium when the Chiefs beat the Titans to advance to their first Super Bowl in 50 years, making the euphoric Kansas City fans even more frenzied. But there is history there.

Every time the Chiefs score a touchdown — which is often with this offense — the Beastie Boys’ song “Fight for Your Right,” blares inside Arrowhead Stadium.

“It’s something I knew could get the crowd riled up and get them involved,” Kelce said. “That’s going to be something I remember for the rest of my life.”

Kelce is a physical, intense player on the field. But right now he looks like a 6-5, 260-pound kid and appears to be enjoying this experience more than anyone on the Chiefs. Kelce hasn’t stopped smiling since he’s gotten to South Florida.

“I just love to live life, man,” he said. “I like to enjoy happiness along the way.”

Kelce, in his seventh season, all with the Chiefs, wants to win the Super Bowl for Kansas City and his coach, Andy Reid.

He uses the word “love” when he describes his feelings for Reid, who lost his only other trip to the Super Bowl with the Eagles 15 years ago. Kelce is one of the best tight ends in football, and the first in NFL history with four straight seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards. He credits Reid for that.

“I’ve been fortunate to be with Andy Reid my entire career,” Kelce said. “To be able to be in his system a substantial amount of time, and kind of get into the play-caller’s mind and how he wants certain routes ran versus certain defenses, and just be comfortable. I’m just a product of Andy Reid.”

Reid puts his players in positions to succeed as well as anyone in the NFL and values the tight end position. But he also has some dynamic skill players on his team, particularly quarterback Patrick Mahomes and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. They make things easy for Kelce, but he also makes it easy on them.

“He’s like the glue to the offense,” Mahomes said of Kelce. “The way he’s able to get other people open as well as get himself open, he really helps us out a ton. He does everything. He blocks. He runs routes. He sets other people up. It’s something that is great to have.”

Hill added, “Being able to have three wideouts on the field and adding Travis is like having four wideouts on the field. He can run every route. He’s fast, he’s physical, he’s aggressive to the ball. He’s definitely a special weapon we have on this team.”

The Chiefs’ defensive players also are happy to have Kelce on the team. Having to go against him in practice should better prepare them for what they will face Sunday.

49ers tight end George Kittle is also among the best at his position. Kelce briefly owned the tight end record for receiving yards when he finished his 2018 regular season with 1,336. Kittle passed him later in the day in Week 17, finishing with 1,377.

“Practicing against Kelce, all spring, one-on-ones, run and pass blocking, he’s built me for this moment,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “He’s stung me a lot. We went back and forth a lot at practice. I think both of those players are special.”