I sent the below message to Travis Kelce’s IG and New Heights‘ IG and FB accounts. I don’t know if it will be read, but I hope so. Usher pictured here, just because it’s Usher. I didn’t send that along in the message. 
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Dear Mr. Kelce,
First off – I LOVE New Heights! You and Jason are so fun and live from your heart. Congrats on the Super Bowl win. However, I wanted to share my disappointment with how you, Travis, and Coach Reid handled your sideline temper tantrum. When Coach Reid came out and said it was not a big deal, I was happy. And then I asked myself, if a player I didn’t like did that to their coach, would I brush it off so quickly and the answer is no.
Whether you like it or not, and I think you like it, the world is watching you. Yes – you play with passion. Yes – you wanted to be in the game and win. Yes – you were caught throwing your tantrum on live TV. At first, I agreed; it’s the passion of the game. And then I thought of all the young girls and boys watching and seeing it be okay for their hero, a grown big man, to yell directly in the face of their coach – or anyone for that matter, and to push them. I genuinely don’t care if you share what was said. I do care about you blowing it off like it was nothing. It was something. It told young boys and probably men that it’s okay to get in the face of someone you disagree with and show your physical power over them, and then, when you’ve calmed down, apologize and blow it off. It showed young girls that it is okay for that behavior if they apologize when cooled down.
I stopped watching football for many years as there were far too many football players getting away with abusing women in their lives and still playing the ‘game’ on Sunday. New Heights brought me back to giving the game another chance. I hope you choose not to let this teaching moment go as, yes, it will be old news soon enough. However, its impact will live on, and you get a chance to change the narrative from being a bully to recognizing while it was in the heat of the moment, you still didn’t show up as your best self.
Still a fan.
Carol cc Miller
