Count Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce among those who were extremely disappointed to see Pro Bowl offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. leave in free agency and sign with the conference-rival Cincinnati Bengals.
Brown, who was franchise-tagged last season during Kansas City’s Super Bowl run, signed a four-year deal with Cincy worth $64 million.
“It hurts. It hurts my soul, man. Hurts my soul,” Kelce said on his New Heights podcast along with his brother Jason. “It’s like watching your best friend just turn evil on you.”
While Brown leaving for one of the Chiefs’ biggest rivals certainly hurts, Kelce did add that he completely understands why Brown took the best offer available to him.
“It’s tough man,” said Kelce. “Obviously, I mean, the past two years we’ve struggled beating the Bengals. So there’s been a lot of like built-up emotion of like … I would say, not necessarily hate but just like dislike towards the Bengals because they keep beating us, and they keep talking about it every time they do. So it’s like man, to see him go to the dark side man, it’s an awkward feeling. Obviously, I hope that he has an absolute Hall of Fame career. You know what I mean? I wish nothing but the best for OB. He was an unbelievable leader. An unbelievable teammate on and off the field.”
