KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Travis Kelce, a former UC Bearcat and Ohio native, put the final pin in the bulletin board material following the Kansas City Chiefs' win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship.
"Burrowhead my a**," Kelce said while Patrick Mahomes was interviewed by CBS sideline reporter Tracey Wolfson after the game.
The Burrowhead mantra came from Mike Hilton, who originally coined the phrase following the team's win over the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round, placing Joe Burrow's name on top of Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Chiefs.
"We'll see y'all in Burrowhead," Hilton told an NFL camera on the sideline as the game wound down.
Burrowhead 📍 pic.twitter.com/QQUL8ELEt9
— ZIM (@zimwhodey) January 24, 2023
The Chiefs pulled out the narrow victory, 23-20, after a jockeying week of trash talk from all sides. What started with Burrowhead continued when Chiefs linebacker Willie Gay said "nothing" impressed him about the Bengals offense.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval joined the fray, going viral with his proclamation to perform a "paternity test" to check if Burrow was indeed Patrick Mahomes' "father."
Travis Kelce had some words for him after the game also:
"Know your role, and shut your mouth," Kelce yelled while holding the Lamar Hunt AFC Championship trophy.
Travis Kelce had quite the message for the Cincinnati Mayor 💀
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) January 30, 2023
🎥: @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/rQtEvnJq7h
Mayor Pureval tweeted shortly after the game that he "deserved" the comments made by Kelce.
Yeah. Deserved that.
— Aftab Pureval (@AftabPureval) January 30, 2023
Congrats to KC on a well-fought win, and good luck in Arizona.
Proud of our fans and our @bengals for the energy all year.
Who Dey! https://t.co/CdBAsJRyVY
Kelce's play backed up his talk. He hauled in 7 catches for 78 yards and a touchdown in helping the Chiefs to its third Super Bowl in four years.
The Bengals had defeated the Chiefs three times in the last two seasons, including in last year's championship. At one point in the middle of the week, the Bengals were even favored over the Chiefs to win the game, but as the betting played out and Mahomes and Kelce's injury status became clearer, the line swung back in the Chiefs' favor.
