Los Angeles Chargers defensive tackle Teair Tart slapped Travis Kelce’s helmet near his face during the Chargers vs. Chiefs game on Friday, Sept. 5
Tart faced a penalty but was not ejected from the game for the slap
The Chargers won, 27-21
Los Angeles Chargers defensive tackle Teair Tart slapped Travis Kelce during their victory against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday, Sept. 5.
Tart, 28, slapped Kelce, 35, on the front of his helmet, after the two were pushing each other. The altercation followed a two-yard run by Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt with just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter of the game.
The referee threw a flag on the play, calling a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Tart. However, they ruled the slap was not a “disqualifying action,” per The Sporting News.
Terry McAulay, a former referee who served as YouTube’s rules analyst Friday, explained during the livestream that because the slap was an “open hand contact to the head” from Tart rather than a close-fisted punch, it was not enough to disqualify him.
The penalty moved the football to the Chargers’ 11-yard line. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes reached the end zone on an 11-yard run on the ensuing play, which cut Kansas City’s deficit to 13-12. Harrison Butker missed a game–tying extra point.
This was not the only collision for Kelce on Friday night – at the start of the game, he was involved in a brutal collision with his teammate Xavier Worthy during a play.
Kelce did have a bright spot during the game when he scored his first touchdown during the fourth quarter.
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Kelce completed a pass from quarterback Mahomes, 29, for a 37-yard score in the fourth quarter, and celebrated with a victory dance in the end zone. First the NFL star mimicked a bull, putting his hands to his helmet with his index fingers pointed out like horns and scraping his foot on the ground before charging ahead.
Then, Kelce shook it off alongside his teammates — Tyquan Thornton and JuJu Smith-Schuster. The three players shimmied in sync before Mahomes came over to grab them.
However, the Chargers later scored another touchdown to increase their lead. The Chiefs added a field goal, but it wasn’t enough and the Chargers beat their AFC West rivals, 27-21.
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