National Football League

Why Shannon Sharpe thinks Travis Kelce is the NFL's best tight end

Updated Apr. 15, 2023 5:45 p.m. ET

"Travis Kelce is the NFL's best tight end" may be not too controversial of a take, especially coming after Kelce's eighth straight Pro Bowl nod and second Super Bowl title. But those words carry more weight when a Hall of Fame NFL tight end is saying them, and in a recent appearance on Kelce's podcast, FOX Sports' own Shannon Sharpe explained why he gives that honor to Kelce.

Sharpe, who won three Super Bowl rings of his own as a tight end with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens, believes that Kelce's ability to perform in big games and key moments when everyone knows he will be looked to is what sets the 33-year-old Kansas City Chiefs star apart.

"What we call him is ‘Big Game,'" Sharpe said to Travis's co-host and brother, All-Pro Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. "The bigger the moment, the bigger he plays.

"Who do you think Patrick [Mahomes] is gonna throw the ball to? He's gonna throw it to [Travis]. They know that, 80,000 people know that, Patrick Mahomes knows that, and the defense knows that he's gonna get the ball. And somehow he still finds a way to come down with the football. When it's all said and done, I don't know how you make an argument that says Trav isn't the greatest tight end."

When Jason reminded Sharpe that Sharpe had said earlier in the previous NFL season that Travis would be the greatest at his position if he got a second Super Bowl ring, which of course ended up happening, Sharpe stuck by his words.

"You look at his numbers, the 1,000 yards seasons, you look at his postseason résumé, you combine those two I don't know how you say [he isn't the best]," Sharpe said.

When Sharpe opined that nobody ever comes away from watching a Chiefs playoff game saying that Travis didn't look like himself that day, Travis laughingly corrected him.

"I can tell you one," Travis said. "I got knocked the f--- out against Tennessee [in the 2017 wild-card round] and I did not show up in that second half."

When Sharpe asked Travis if he even remembered that game, Travis responded he did not.

"I was concussed, Unc," Travis said.

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