Travis Kelce and Austin Ekeler on the 2021 AFC West
Yahoo Sports’ Liz Loza asks the Chiefs’ All-Pro Tight End and the Chargers’ do-it-all running back to breakdown the division that has been controlled by Kansas City the past five seasons. Travis Kelce joined Yahoo Sports thanks to Lowe’s. The Chiefs’ pass catcher is a member of the Lowe’s NFL Home Team. Kelce’s foundation 87 & Running, is partnering with Operation Breakthrough to create the Ignition Lab, a new youth learning space in Kansas City, a collaboration that is now one of Lowe’s 100 hometown projects. Fans can head to Lowes.com/HomeTeam to try out for a chance to join the Lowe’s Home Team.
Video Transcript
LIZ LOZA: Travis, your Chiefs have won the AFC West for five straight seasons. No shade, Austin, a lot of people think the Chargers have improved a whole lot. Any predictions from the two of you about the division this season?
TRAVIS KELCE: I mean, we are stacked this year more than I've ever really thought about in years past. I mean, every single team's got a great quarterback, got a great offense.
So I'm just anticipating a lot of high scoring games, no matter what division opponent we play, especially the Chargers, man. They got the young guy back there, Herbert, just slinging it around and got an unbelievable defense.
We'll see them and the Raiders kind of switched up their defensive coordinators and their schemes and everything. So it'll be just a little bit different game planning for them this year than it has in years past, where it was almost as if we were all playing chess and knowing what the other opponent was going to do.
AUSTIN EKELER: You are stacked, man, it's crazy. So you guys are definitely the team to beat, and everyone's out to beat you guys. You guys earned that.
We're confident, just like every team is right now going into week one. And that's what competition is about, right? It's about believing in yourself, going out there, giving it your best.
LIZ LOZA: Travis, you're opening your 2021 season against your hometown team. Does that add in a little extra juice? Do you feel a little something extra when you know you're going against the team you grew up rooting for?
TRAVIS KELCE: Oh, yeah, without a doubt, man, without a doubt. I think I'm going to have to just stay focused on the game, because there's a lot of emotions that could come into play.
Obviously being from Cleveland, growing up I always wanted to be a Cleveland Brown. My first jersey I ever wore was a Bernie Kosar 19 jersey back in the early '90s.
And I just think it's something that's special. And it's special to me and my family, to all my friends that are still Browns fans. They're torn in between who they want to cheer for and how the outcome in the game is going to be.
And it's just exciting for myself to even be in the situation, right. Because I always dreamed about one day being on that field, playing for the Browns. And now I'm playing against the Browns and it's still that same little kid comes out of me whenever I do.
LIZ LOZA: Travis, you're a member of the Lowe's NFL home team. Can you tell us about what you and your foundation, Eighty-Seven and Running, are doing with Lowe's?
TRAVIS KELCE: Yes, I'm the newest member of the Lowe's hometown team. Their initiative to get into 100 homes or 100 home towns in this country. It's just an awesome initiative to be a part of.
They heard about what me and Eighty-Seven and Running, my foundation, have been doing here in the Kansas City community with Operation Breakthrough, a great organization that takes care of these kids in this community. And they wanted to be involved.
They wanted to put the finishing touches on the Ignition Lab that we created here. And everybody is kind of wondering what the Ignition Lab is. And it's basically a safe place for kids that are 14 to 18 years old to go after school to still prolong their learning and their career training all in the STEL, skill STEL programs that they have out there, so science, technology, engineering, and math. It covers-- we have a whole bunch of labs, different types of labs for these kids to just go in and get their hands dirty.
It's a beautiful thing and I can't thank Lowe's enough for being a part of it. And I can't thank Kansas City community enough for supporting my foundation and the Operation Breakthrough organization, because these kids are getting something that they wouldn't have otherwise.