Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s baffled as to how his star tight end, Travis Kelce, getting slapped in the head didn’t lead to the immediate ejection of the offender.
The brutal scene unfolded Friday night in São Paulo, where the Chiefs were taking on their AFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers. In the third quarter, Kelce blocked and shoved defensive tackle Teair Tart, who didn’t take too kindly to the shove, prompting him to come back with a brutal slap on Kelce’s head.
Kelce’s head immediately lunged backward as a result of the direct shot to the head. Tart got penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, but the Chiefs were confused as to why Tart wasn’t instead tossed from the game.
NBC rules expert Terry McAuley explained Tart was not ejected “because it was an open hand contact to the head that was not a disqualifying action. On this one, they felt that it was just an open hand blow to the head, not a closed fist, not a punch, and they did not disqualify in this case.”
Tart smacks Kelce in the helmet pic.twitter.com/Qka81u9LZj
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) September 6, 2025
Reid couldn’t believe it.
The lovable Kansas City Chiefs coach appeared on a Kansas City sports radio show and reiterated as much.
“I don’t understand that rule,” Reid said. “I guess it’s open-hand, fist, whatever, I don’t know. I don’t know what their decision was on that. But he definitely got hit in the head pretty hard, whether it was an open fist or a closed fist.”
Andy Reid talks about Teair Tart’s swing at Travis Kelce in Friday’s game.
He told @Leabonics, “He definitely got hit in the head pretty hard, whether it was an open fist or a closed fist.” pic.twitter.com/9V9i0F2StD
— Sports Radio 810 WHB (@SportsRadio810) September 8, 2025
The issue’s not quite over four days after the incident. It seems Reid’s still hashing it out with the league, but he held back out of fear of saying something that would result in a fine.
“I’ll work out that with the league,” he said. “I can’t get into all that.”
What the rule says …
The NFL rulebook states that a player will be automatically disqualified if that player is penalized twice in the same game for committing one of the following unsportsmanlike conduct fouls or a combination of the following fouls:
- Throwing a punch, or a forearm, or kicking at an opponent, even though no contact is made.
- Using abusive, threatening, or insulting language or gestures to opponents, teammates, officials, or representatives of the league.
- Using baiting or taunting acts or words that may engender ill will between teams.
So, had the Kelce slap been Tart’s second penalty, he would have been tossed from the game.
Tart taunts Kelce
Tart took to social media to gloat about the incident. He took to Instagram and posted a carousel of photos and videos. He captioned it, “I’m too swift with it even in Brazil…,” in reference to Kelce’s superstar fiancée, Taylor Swift.
Tart also took to his Instagram Story and posted a clip of the famous scene from The Chappelle Show, in which Dave Chappelle portrays Rick James, who tells Charlie Murphy, “What did the five fingers say to the face? Slap!”
Fans didn’t take kindly to all the gloating. One fan commented on the post, “Congratulations! You’re now the poster boy for poor sportsmanship. Karma’s a b–ch – hope you get slapped with it.”
