NFL star sparks fury with gesture to Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes

NFL fans think Pittsburgh Steelers star George Pickens was issuing a come-and-get-me plea when he spoke to Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes on Christmas Day.

The Kansas City Chiefs pair were being interviewed by Netflix after their resounding 29-10 win over the Steelers when Pickens approached from behind the camera.

The receiver congratulated Kelce and Mahomes and shook their hands, although fans think he made the move in order to engineer a trade to Kansas City. One posted on X: ‘That was him telling them he’s interested in being a Chief asap.’ Another questioned: ‘What the hell is Pickens doing?’

‘Laying the groundwork for him to come to Kansas City,’ a third wrote. Pickens had three catches for 50 yards during the game as he continued what has been a controversial season so far.

He brawled with a Cleveland Browns player last month and was then flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

There was no Taylor Swift in attendance but Kelce still managed to set a new Chiefs touchdown record as he finally surpassed fellow tight end Tony Gonzalez. Patrick Mahomes also passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns as the Chiefs locked up the top seed in the AFC for the fourth time in seven seasons.

The two-time defending Super Bowl champions raced to an early 13-point lead and were never really threatened by the Steelers, who have dropped three straight as their chances of capturing the AFC North took another hit.

Mahomes connected on first-half scoring tosses to Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson and Kansas City’s defense did most of the rest even with perennial All-Pro defensive end Chris Jones sitting out while nursing a calf injury.

The Chiefs sacked Russell Wilson five times, forced two turnovers and hardly looked gassed while playing for the third time in 11 days. Kelce caught eight passes for 84 yards while becoming the third tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 receptions, joining Hall of Famer Gonzalez and Jason Witten.

Kelce sealed Kansas City’s fifth straight victory with a 12-yard touchdown grab early in the fourth quarter.

The 35-year-old celebrated by dunking the ball over the goal post, which drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and groans from a capacity crowd at Acrisure Stadium that has grown used to seeing Mahomes toy with the hometown team.

Mahomes is now 4-0 against the Steelers in his career, with 17 touchdowns against one interception.