Kelce cementing his HOF status

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It's nuts to me that we're going to act like Kelce isn't an incredible contested catch guy. Moreover, what Kelce does in space is absolutely insane and yes, gets back to his innate athletic ability.

Gonzalez does NOT house that catch that Kelce made for the first score Sunday. That agility and immediate ability to get upfield at speed just doesn't happen. Oh sure, Tony probably makes the catch but he doesn't catch it, get upfield, eat up that much space and then hurdle the damn safety to get clean into the end zone.

Kelce is the evolutionary version of Tony G. He's the same guy...but better. Gonzalez was one of the very first of the new breed of TEs who could move in space, overpower smaller defenders and abuse LBers. But the LBers he was abusing were Marvcus Patton and not Devin White.

I'm sorry but you're just wrong here. Travis Kelce is very probably the most athletically gifted TE in history. He's physical, he's agile, he's fast, his hands are elite. He's fearless in traffic and smart in space.

There's literally not a single goddamn thing he doesn't do amazingly well. And he does it in part because he's a very smart football player but the league has been FULL of smart football players. He's not elite because he's smart - he's elite because he's smart AND among the most physically gifted players to ever play the position.

This is crazy. I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here but it's not worth the trouble. If you're trying to build the guy up by making some bizarre underdog story out of the guy and claim he's a lunchpail player who gets more with less or something - you're just wrong. This guy has gifts unlike anything the position has ever seen. And yes, he puts them to their highest and best use, but that's why he's a damn HoFer and not some flash in the pan.

You take Kelce's physical tools and eliminate his football savvy and you probably get...i dunno - Jimmy Graham? Take his brains and eliminate his tools and you get...uh...Ben Coates?

In either event, trying to diminish the exceptional physical gifts Travis Kelce brings to the table to make him some sort of lunch pail grinder story is just asinine. There has never been a peak that approaches Travis Kelce. His top end strafes anyone that's ever done this before.

Who said he wasn’t hall of fame gifted? Who said he was a mediocre player who just worked hard? Your words, not mine.

We are talking about a really, really high bar when you’re talking GOAT and you’re acting like it’s offensive to say that the other guys in that conversation are really damn good too. Gonzalez and gronk were considered GOAT until kelce established himself and threw his hat in the ring.

I know gonzo rubbed people the wrong way. But he earned his right to be in that convo. There are things kelce can do that gonzo can’t. But vice versa too. Gonzo excelled across eras even when he was old and defenses adjusted to the tight end. Gonzalez was an insanely good jump ball and red zone target, and he did it while carrying absolutely lousy receivers and qbs for much of his career. Including in an era when qbs were heaving up prayer balls to him as our offensive strategy. That doesn’t mean kelce can’t do that. They are gifted in different ways. But we don’t need to undermine gonzos talents to prop up kelce. And if anyone brings this noise outside the kc bubble they’ll get laughed out of the room if they suggest gronk isn’t heavily in this conversation. I don’t think it does us any favors to walk in to these discussions with a distorted view of the competition. It’s not that kelce can’t do these things at a high level. But we are talking about calling him the most physically gifted tight end among the best tight ends IN HISTORY.

I think people are misremembering history. The homer in me believes kelce is the GOAT. But there is nothing wrong with anyone who thinks it’s gonzo or gronk.