Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce did something on Monday night that no NFL player his age has ever done before.
Kelce caught 14 passes in the Chiefs’ win over the Buccaneers, making him the first player 35 or older to do so.
The previous oldest player to catch 14 passes in a game was Seahawks wide receiver Bobby Engram, who caught 14 passes in an overtime loss to the Browns in 2007, when he was 34 years old.
After Engram, Kelce was also the next-oldest player to catch 14 passes in a game when he had 14 catches in the Chiefs’ playoff win over the Jaguars after the 2022 season, when he was 33 years, 108 days old. Jerry Rice had 14 catches for a whopping 289 yards against the Vikings in 1995, when he was 33 years, 66 days old.
Steve Largent had 15 catches for 261 yards at age 33 years, 20 days in a 1987 game, although Largent crossed the NFL Players Association’s picket line and played against a bunch of scabs who had no business on an NFL field, so there’s a fairly large asterisk next to Largent’s record.
Kelce, Engram, Rice and Largent are the only players to catch 14 passes in a game at age 33 or older.
The previous record for most catches by a player 35 or older was 13. Tim Brown, Tony Gonzalez and Steve Smith all had 13-catch games after their 35th birthdays.
