How did Chiefs get their swagger back? It’s Travis Kelce’s beard, jokes Patrick Mahomes

Long before the concerns about the Chiefs defense early in the season and then the questions about the offense and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, fans lit up social media with worries about another topic.

Tight end Travis Kelce’s beard.

As you may recall, Kelce shaved off the beard in training camp and it became such a big story that he was asked about it on “The Rich Eisen Show.”

“To be honest right now, I’m just torturing my girlfriend because she’s not a fan of just the shaved face, the baby face,” Kelce said of his girlfriend Kayla Nicole. “It’s kind of poking the bear right now and just having fun.”

The Chiefs weren’t having all that much fun early in the season. They lost four of six games at one point and the offense scored just 36 points in a three-game stretch.

But the Chiefs busted out Sunday with a 41-14 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas. Kelce caught eight passes for 119 yards, and talked with ESPN after the game.

“I got my swagger back,” Kelce said as he mimicked the famous interview with a Michigan high school player.

Observant fans likely noticed what else returned: Kelce’s beard. However, it’s not as full as in his pre-shaven days.

During his weekly radio show on KCSP (610 AM), Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was asked Monday about Kelce’s big game. Mahomes mentioned the beard.

“Yeah, he’s been here before, that’s the big thing,” Mahomes said. “He’s a leader on this team. The lights never get too bright for him. You know, Trav, he’s always ready for prime time and being able to go out and show out. And I mean, he got rolling early in the game. He was making a ton of plays. He was doing that thing where he’s catching short passes and making eight guys miss and getting more and more yards.

“I told him it has to be the beard though. He brought the beard back and all of a sudden he’s Travis Kelce again.“

KCSP’s Carrington Harrison joked that Kelce’s beard is the source of his power.

“Once he brought the beard back, he might’ve brought the swagger back to the entire team,” Mahomes joked. “We’ll make sure he keeps that thing going and he doesn’t ever shave that again.”