Travis Kelce was left stunned after being slapped by Teair Tart during the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers game on Friday in São Paulo, Brazil.
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The incident occurred during the game’s third quarter after Kelce ran into and shoved Tart during a block. Clearly letting his emotions fly, Tart reacted by slapping Kelce across the face.
The move wasn’t a disqualifying offense, but it led to a 15-yard roughness penalty.
To add salt to injury, the Chiefs ended up losing to the Chargers, ending their seven-game winning streak against them.
Following the game, Tart took to his Instagram Story with a clip of a Chapelle Show skit, which showed Rick James smacking Charlie Murphy after he asked, “What did the five fingers say to the face?”
He later seemingly referenced Taylor Swift’s fans, the Swifities, in an Instagram post. “I’m too swift with it even in Brazil…” he wrote in the post’s caption while posting photos of the game.
The Swifties headed to the post’s comment section to clap back. “It’s giving small [eggplant emoji] energy,” one Swiftie wrote. “Can’t wait for that karma to come back around.”
Another Swiftie pointed out, “Crazy how you finally made headlines… for slapping, not sacking.”
NFL Analysts Explain Why Teair Tart Wasn’t Ejected From the Game After Slapping Travis Kelce
Meanwhile, NFL analysts explained why Teair Tart slapping Travis Kelce didn’t result in an ejection from the game.
Upon speaking to the league, YouTube rules analyst Terry McAulay said, “[NFL officials] said because it was an open-hand contact ot the head, that was not a disqualifying action.”
NBC Sports cited Rule 12, Article 3, Section of the NFL rulebook as why the explanation isn’t actually accurate. “There shall be no unsportsmanlike conduct. This applies to any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship. Such acts specifically include, among others: (a) Throwing a punch, or a forearm, or kicking at an opponent, even though no contact is made.”
NBC Sports stated the list of eight types of prohibited acts does not include an open-handed blow (i.e., a slap).
The penalty portion of the rule does note, “If the action is flagrant and a game official sees the entire action, the player is also disqualified.”
Therefore, NBC Sports stated the reason should have been, “Tart wasn’t ejected because the league office personnel responsible for disqualification deemed it wasn’t flagrant.”
The NFL has not announced if it will punish Tart for the move.