Mike McCarthy reacts to Travis Kelce's physical outburst at Chiefs head coach Andy Reid

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce let a heated moment get out of hand on Sunday as his team began their come-from-behind effort to topple the 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs won and everything was alright but Kelce’s shove and his yelling in the face of head coach Andy Reid is still reverberating through the NFL.

On Wednesday, a reporter asked Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy what he thought of the incident, questioning if any of his players could get away with a bump like Kelce gave Reid. In his nearly 40 years of coaching, McCarthy’s had worse.

“I think, just like anything—I just think sometimes those guys forget how strong they are,” McCarthy said. “I’ve been punched. I’ve been pushed. I think it’s just part of that relationship.”

Last season, McCarthy had a “shoving” incident of his own go viral. After the team’s loss to the 49ers in the playoffs, a photo circulated that made it look like the Cowboys head coach was pushing a cameraman. However, he said he was merely moving the lens out of his way.

Kelce not knowing his strength after shoving defenders out of his way is certainly understandable. Reid didn’t take the negative interaction to heart, even laughing it off with a joke about his balance.

“He wasn’t looking. He didn’t know I was gonna go that far,” Reid said after the Super Bowl victory in overtime. “So, after that, he came over and gave me a hug. Said ‘sorry about that.’ But you know what? He just wants to be on the field, and he wants to play. And so, there’s nobody I get better than I get him. He’s a competitive kid and you know, he loves to play, and he makes me feel young. You know, but my balance is terrible.”

Kelce calls shoving incident ‘unacceptable’

This week on the New Heights podcast, Jason Kelce called his brother out, saying he “crossed the line; I think we can both agree on it.” The Chiefs star agreed, further explaining his mindset in that moment.

“I got a certain relationship with him,” Kelce said, via ESPN. “He’s checked me a few times and I just wanted to let him know that I wanted this thing, and he can put it on me, and I got him. You know, it just came in a moment where we weren’t playing very well. I wasn’t playing well, and we had to get some s— going. And sometimes … emotions get away from me and that’s been the battle of my career.”