Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was not happy when left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. signed with the Bengals in free agency.
“It hurts. It hurts my soul, man. Hurts my soul. It’s like watching your best friend just turn evil on you,” Kelce said on his New Heights podcast, via the Kansas City Star.
Kelce doesn’t begrudge any player taking the best contract offer he gets, but said it’s especially difficult to see Brown go to the team the Chiefs have faced in the last two AFC Championship Games.
“It’s tough man. Obviously, I mean, the past like two years we’ve struggled beating the Bengals,” Kelce said. “So there’s been a lot of like build up in emotion of like, I would say, not necessarily hate but just like dislike towards the Bengals because they keep beating us, and they keep talking about it every time they do. So it’s like, man, to see him go to the dark side man, it’s an awkward feeling. Obviously I hope that he has an absolute Hall of Fame career. You know what I mean? I wish nothing but the best for OB. He was an unbelievable leader. An unbelievable teammate on and off the field.”
As long as the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, their offense is in good shape. But Kelce knows that Brown is a player the Chiefs’ offense will miss — and a player the Chiefs’ defense has to be prepared to face.