Travis Kelce has developed a formidable bond with Patrick Mahomes on and off the field over the past decade – but he initially wasn’t happy to see him become starting quarterback for the Chiefs.

Mahomes, who could become the first quarterback in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls next weekend, was elevated to QB1 in Kansas City when the Chiefs controversially traded three-time Pro Bowler Alex Smith to Washington in 2018.

Smith had just put up a number of impressive stats in the 2017 season, including the eighth-most pᴀssing yards (4,042) and a league-leading pᴀsser rating (104.7), meaning the call to move him on was a huge shock at the time.

And in an astonishing video that has resurfaced seven years later, a visibly unhappy Kelce is seen criticizing the decision to replace Smith with Mahomes.

‘It was definitely news that I wasn’t trying to hear,’ the тιԍнт end said about Smith’s exit during a 2018 appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

When asked why the Chiefs would want to part company with their starting quarterback after his solid year, Kelce conceded: ‘That’s the business side of it I guess. That’s out of my control.’

Travis Kelce is seen fuming over Patrick Mahomes becoming Chiefs QB in a resurfaced video

He has gone on to develop a formidable bond with Mahomes on and off the field in Kansas City

“It was definitely news that I was not trying to hear.” @Chiefs TE Travis Kelce makes his first public comment on the Alex Smith trade pic.twitter.com/Aq1xFjOzSC

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 31, 2018 Read More Travis Kelce makes six-word Super Bowl vow to Taylor Swift and mom Donna in new footage

But the most stunning part of the interview came when Kelce was quizzed on what Mahomes brings the table that Smith doesn’t.

‘That is something I haven’t seen yet,’ he admitted. ‘You wanna say he can throw the ball a mile, [but] Alex had the most 20+ yard completions and touchdowns this season. 

‘His knock was that he wasn’t a downfield thrower, well he chucked it this year.’

After failing to make it to the AFC Championship game in a quarter of a century, Mahomes guided the Chiefs to their first Divisional playoff win since 1993 in his first season as Chiefs starter.

He then won the Super Bowl in his second year, before making it to the NFL showpiece again and losing to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots in his third.

Following defeat in the 2021 AFC Championship game, Mahomes and the Chiefs have since won two consecutive Super Bowls – and they will bid for a third in New Orleans on February 9.

Smith, who spent three years in Washington before retiring, is largely credited with mentoring Mahomes before being replaced as starting quarterback by the Texas Tech graduate.

Kelce was initially unhappy that starting QB Alex Smith (left) was traded to Washington

But Mahomes has since gone on to win three Super Bowls in six years with the Chiefs, and a fourth could come next weekend

‘In the quarterback room in Kansas City, you do everything together. You watch films together, you eat together, you train together you prep together, you practice together. It’s all done as a group,’ the 40-year-old said about their relationship last year.

‘And he got to see that and he got to take the things that he liked and he could adopt them and the things that worked for him and for his career.

‘I wasn’t whispering anything, I was just being a good teammate and again, just trying to do my best to play winning football. 

‘And I think that’s really what mentorship is about. It’s a shared respect but really it’s just being a good teammate.’