Travis Kelce Reflects On Playing Patriots After Banner Ceremony

The Kansas City Chiefs open the 2023 season on Thursday night against the Detroit Lions as the team celebrates its Super Bowl LVII championship.

Kansas City is set to raise a banner for the second time in four years, joining the Baltimore Ravens, the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Giants and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the only teams to win multiple Super Bowls since 2000. The Chiefs, Giants and Patriots are the only teams in that span to bring home multiple titles in a four-year span.

After the Patriots won their fifth championship in the 2016 season, New England hosted the Chiefs to celebrate the title and open the 2017 campaign. As Kansas City prepares to celebrate its most recent title, Travis Kelce reflected on playing the Patriots on the night of a championship ceremony.

"I just remember the game," Kelce told reporters on Monday in Kansas City, per a team-provided video. "I think they had Super Bowl trophies on a tube. It was crazy. I remember thinking in my head, 'This is a lot for the (expletive) first game of the next season.' Just to remember last year knowing it's a whole new season. That's really all I remember from it."

In that game, the Kansas City offense erupted in the second half for a 42-27 win over the Patriots in Foxboro. From the sound of it, Kelce may not be expecting Kansas City to have a similar degree of celebration Thursday.

After Kansas City kicks off the season Thursday, the Patriots host the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.