Jody Fortson on why Chiefs’ Travis Kelce is best teammate he’s had at any level

After former Chiefs tight end Jody Fortson signed with the Miami Dolphins last week, he spoke with members of the media in south Florida.

During the news conference, Fortson was asked what it was like to share a meeting room with fellow tight end Travis Kelce. Fortson lavished praise on Kelce.

“Let me just tell you: Travis Kelce is my favorite teammate of all-time,” Fortson said. “On any level: Pop Warner, high school, college, Travis Kelce is my favorite teammate. Not only because he took his time trying to teach me the role of being the tight end but because of how a great person he is. He didn’t even have to (do that).“

Kelce was an established star when the Chiefs signed Fortson as an undrafted free agent in 2019.

Rather than simply letting Fortson figure things out on his own as a rookie, Kelce made a point of helping his new teammate.

“He just showed unconditional love and just knowledge for the game,” Fortson said. “Being in a room with Kelce, it definitely set me forward light years of where I would have been had I not had him, arguably having the greatest of all-time in that room. Being able to learn and see how he’s attacking different routes and why he views coverage like this and … how he’s able to find the holes and other stuff, like you’re not able to get that unless you’re with somebody that knows that.

Kelce was an established star when the Chiefs signed Fortson as an undrafted free agent in 2019.

Rather than simply letting Fortson figure things out on his own as a rookie, Kelce made a point of helping his new teammate.

“He just showed unconditional love and just knowledge for the game,” Fortson said. “Being in a room with Kelce, it definitely set me forward light years of where I would have been had I not had him, arguably having the greatest of all-time in that room. Being able to learn and see how he’s attacking different routes and why he views coverage like this and … how he’s able to find the holes and other stuff, like you’re not able to get that unless you’re with somebody that knows that.

Kelce was an established star when the Chiefs signed Fortson as an undrafted free agent in 2019.

Rather than simply letting Fortson figure things out on his own as a rookie, Kelce made a point of helping his new teammate.

“He just showed unconditional love and just knowledge for the game,” Fortson said. “Being in a room with Kelce, it definitely set me forward light years of where I would have been had I not had him, arguably having the greatest of all-time in that room. Being able to learn and see how he’s attacking different routes and why he views coverage like this and … how he’s able to find the holes and other stuff, like you’re not able to get that unless you’re with somebody that knows that.

So, being in a room with Kelce these last few years has been an extraordinary blessing to my game. I used to be rushing my routes and stuff, but like, even going to Kelce’s house and like, ‘Hey, man, you can slow it down. Like every route doesn’t have to be a hundred miles an hour, you can kind of play with the tempo. You can maneuver it a little bit.’ Like there’s a lot of different nuances of the game that I learned from him.”

PRAISE FOR ANDY REID, TOO
Fortson also was asked what it was like to play for Chiefs coach Andy Reid. Fortson again had nothing but positive things to say.

Reid’s openness to taking play suggestions from anyone in the facility was something that impressed Fortson.