"It Hurts My Soul" - Travis Kelce Is Very Sad About Orlando Brown Jr. Signing With The Bengals And You Hate To See It

Matt Fitzgerald3/27/2023 7:50 PM

Whatever happens in the Bengals-Chiefs rivalry going forward, it's mind-blowing how butthurt Kansas City's fans and players are toward anything Cincinnati-related. Like, these people can't even enjoy their SECOND Super Bowl in the Patrick Mahomes era! Imagine that. All those years of not winning a championship. Now they have two in a five-year span in which they've hosted the AFC Championship Game very single season.

...And yet still, the Bengals live rent-free in their heads. Orlando Brown Jr. defecting from the Chiefs is the latest twist in one of the most exciting non-division rivalries the NFL has seen in recent history. Travis Kelce is taking it HARD.

I totally understand where Kelce is coming from. Seeing a teammate ditch you for a rival has to be a gutting feeling no matter what the circumstances are. To me, the bigger story here to me is Kelce validating the butthurtedness behind the scenes in KC. The Bengals are 3-1 against the Chiefs with Joe Burrow under center, and their one loss came when Joey B had three second-stringers and a rookie on his offensive line.

Cincinnati had seen enough of Burrow getting pummeled in big games, decided to do something about it, and frontloaded Brown's contract with a ton of guaranteed money to get him to sign. It was awesome. And again...I can't not plug this image to summarize how Who Dey Nation feels about everyone who insists that Orlando Brown Jr. actually sucks at football:

Do they realize that the man Brown is replacing, Jonah Williams, surrendered 12 sacks and 43 pressures in 2022? Also, name me 10 left tackles who are better than Orlando Brown Jr. right now. You can't.

Now to be fair, I know Kelce was upset about the "Burrowhead" thing and the Cincinnati mayor's hubris. I get it. Those things crossed a line. I don't think any Cincinnati fan with a brain believed they "owned" Arrowhead Stadium or whatever the dumbass implication was. Two of the Bengals' three wins over the Chiefs came in Cincinnati, and it took a rally from a 21-3 deficit to win on the road. Again, it's the fact that Kelce, Kansas City's players and fans CARE SO MUCH. Us Bengals folk are over here minding our own business, they just beat us on the biggest stage, won the ultimate prize in professional football, and still can't shake it all off. We're their worst waking nightmare.

I mean we're spotting y'all plays like these:

…And you're 1-3 against us. And we just stole Orlando Brown Jr. away from you.

Giphy Images.

Realize, too, that Cincinnati's football operation is finally catching up to the rest of the league in the 21st century. I'm not guaranteeing a Bengals Super Bowl, because you can't take that shit for granted or just assume it'll happen. Enjoy it when it comes around. You see the alternative with the Chiefs playing out in real time. It's seemingly never gonna be enough for them.

What I'm getting at is, the Bengals are going to be in such better position from an organizational standpoint to contend for years to come. They've been operating with one hand tied behind their back for decades. That's changing.

As revenue keeps pouring in, and wins keep stacking up thanks to Joey B, more and more free agents will want to come play in Cincy. Brown's decision to take more guaranteed money up front as opposed to a more lucrative, long-term deal is concrete proof of the shift in perception surrounding the Bengals.

Still having the Chiefs shook is hilarious to me. They should win every matchup, right? Mahomes is miles better than Burrow or so I'm told, and Kelce is the greatest receiving tight end ever, whereas Cincinnati doesn't even have a viable TE1 at the moment. Such a poverty organization. Never won a Super Bowl. Never will as long as Mahomes and Kelce are around.

Before you hurl around insults such as the ones above, just remember that the AFC North is about to lose Lamar Jackson. The division also boasts the all-time karmic shit sandwich of Deshaun Watson's being/hiscontract steaming on a figurative Panini press and stinking up all of Cleveland. Oh, and the Steelers have Joe Burrow Version 0.85 AKA Kenny Pickett.