Travis Kelce Jokes He Sat Out of Chiefs’ Season Finale to Avoid Being ‘Power-Bombed’ by Chargers’ Derwin James Again

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was a healthy scratch from Sunday's regular season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers, despite being just 16 receiving yards away from his seventh straight 1,000-yard season.

But, a tackle by Chargers safety Derwin James during the teams' first matchup in October still lingered in the back of Kelce's mind.

"Is it not obvious? You think I was trying to go out there and get f---ing power-bombed by Derwin James again?" Kelce joked on this week's episode of New Heights.

"F--- that. Are you kidding me? That was a f---ing bone-rattling hit. I'm trying to keep the blood flow going."

In the Week 7 matchup, James lifted Kelce up and threw him to the ground, in what many called a "WWE-like" tackle that resulted in a fumble at the goal line.

While this was clearly on Kelce's mind, his choice to sit out on Sunday came down to one simple thing; a gut feeling.

"It had nothing to really do with my health, It had nothing to really do with whether or not I was gonna get injured," Kelce said. "It was more so just it just didn't feel right and in my gut just didn't feel like I should be playing the game that way."

The star tight end said that he didn't want to play just to "chase stats" and go for the arbitrary 1,000-yard mark. Getting rest heading into the Wild Card round next weekend, where the Chiefs had already clinched the AFC's No. 3 seed heading into this week, was the focus -- not his personal accolades.

"Everybody in the building had been coming up to me all week telling me they wanted it for me and all the guys on the team were behind it and it just -- I don't know every day I woke up I just stared at the ceiling and I'm like, 'Man, this just doesn't feel right to go out here and try and chase this,'" he explained.

"It wasn't even the record. I don't give a s--- about the record... it's cool to know that but at the same time I've never sat here and said, you know, 'if I don't get 1000 yards, my season was a failure.'... I've always had it in my mind if I lose the Super Bowl, that's a failure."

Kelce knew that the best way to get his team closer to another championship was to "bring the energy" from the sideline, along with quarterback Patrick Mahomes who also rested, while his teammates fought for the 13-12 victory.

Kelce was sure of his decision, but was there anything that could've persuaded him? His brother, and New Heights co-host Jason Kelce suggested a $1 million incentive.

"I'd have been out there," Kelce said. "Grueling, sweating my ass off out there, every single play."

Unfortunately for Kelce, he was not one of the many players fighting for contract incentives in Week 18.

Kansas City came away with the 13-12 victory, which had no impact as the Chiefs had already locked up the No. 3 seed in Week 17.

Kelce and the Chiefs will host the No. 6 Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card round on Sunday. The two teams met earlier this season in Germany, and Kansas City came away with a 21-14 win.