‘You don’t realize how many times people are trying to keep you from catching the ball, or trying to trip you up or hit you,’ Donna said

Donna Kelce is standing up for her youngest son amid his abnormally slow start to the NFL season, and some fans are blaming his girlfriend, Taylor Swift.

In the three games the Kansas City Chiefs have played this season, tight end Travis Kelce has caught just eight passes for a total of 69 yards without scoring a single touchdown.

In his 2022 season, by comparison, he amassed 184 receiving yards on 17 receptions within the first three games. He ended the season with career highs in receptions (110), receiving yards (1,338), and touchdowns (12).

Now, the tight end’s mother has chimed in tellingPeople “it’s tough” to constantly be hearing negative comments about her son.

“You know, I don’t think they realize the pressure that people are under, whether they’re athletes or professionals that are in front of the camera. And it’s just very difficult, there’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes,” she told the outlet.

“You don’t realize how many times people are trying to keep you from catching the ball, or trying to trip you up or hit you… so it’s kinda hard when you’ve got people that are in your face 24/7.”

On social media, fans were quick to reference Kelce’s relationship with pop superstar Swift for his recent drop in form.

“Travis Kelce getting washed allegations, the whole internet blaming his wife, saying he’s not focused on football, it’s his fault the offense isn’t cooking I hope he gets on the pod and rips everyone to shreds. he won’t he’s a good guy. but he should,” one post on X (formerly Twitter) read.

“He is distracted. Now that it is coming out that Swift was involved with P. Diddy. I think Travis Kelce is in a bad spot.  He knows Swift is an evil witch.  He made a deal to be with her and in turn, he gets access to Hollywood,” another post read.

“8 catches for 69 yards. That used to be a bad game for Travis Kelce before he started dating Taylor Swift. 17 games into their relationship and that’s his start to the season thru 3 games. Averaging 2.7 receptions for 23 yards per game….Talk about falling off a cliff,” a third post read.

His performance has led to other players being asked why he didn’t seem as involved this year. The team’s quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, clarified how much respect everyone still has for Kelce.

“It’s crazy because teams still – the respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal. It’s well-deserved,” Mahomes told reporters after the Chiefs game against the Atlanta Falcons on September 22.

“We’re calling a lot of plays for Travis and it’s like two or three people are going to him. He understands – that’s the great thing about him is he wants to make an impact on the game but he wants to win at the end of the day.”

Donna acknowledged to People that she’s experienced negative comments about both of her children at points throughout their football careers. Travis’s brother Jason was a center for the Philadelphia Eagles before retiring in 2024.

“It’s part of the whole thing. I’ve been doing it for 15 years now. It is what it is,” she said.

“I know when they’re out there, they’re giving everything they can. And sometimes people fall short. You don’t want to, but sometimes there are other things that are going on.”

When speaking about his performance during a recent episode of his New Heights podcast, Travis told his brother and co-host Jason that he stopped “caring” about his game stats years ago because he didn’t focus enough on each individual game.

“For whatever reason, these past two games it hasn’t gone that way for me,” he said on the podcast. “That’s football, man. I’m not about to sit here and get frustrated about it.”

However, Kelce added that this is normal for the games at the beginning of the season and he is hoping to get better.

“Typically you see these kind of games earlier on and you keep trying to get better and better and more accountable for the guys around you,” he said.