Chargers star who smacked Travis Kelce in the face is finally punished by NFL

Los Angeles Chargers player Teair Tart has reportedly been fined $12,172 for slapping Travis Kelce in the face during their game in Brazil last week.

Kelce and Tart came to blows in the teams' season-opener after the Chiefs star was blocking on a drive for his team that would end with a Patrick Mahomes touchdown.

Tart took exception to how hard Kelce was pushing him. When Taylor Swift's fiance finally let go, Tart stared at Kelce before slapping him across the helmet with an open palm.

It was that which saved Tart, a 6ft 2ins, 315lbs defensive tackle, from being ejected from the game in Sao Paulo.

Had it been a clenched fist, the rules would have forced the referees to remove him entirely.

Instead, according to ESPN, the NFL has now retrospectively imposed a fine of just over $12,000 on Tar, which is aligned with a first striking offense. The NFL announces fines on Saturday.

Earlier this week Chiefs head coach Andy Reid vented his frustrations over the fact Tart had seemingly avoided punishment.

According to NFL.com, Reid said: 'I don't understand that rule. I guess it's open-hand, fist, whatever, I don't know. I don't know what their decision was on that. 

'But he definitely got hit in the head pretty hard, whether it was an open fist or a closed fist'.

Reid was then asked if he planned to get clarification from the NFL on the play. 'I'll work out that with the league,' he said. 'I can't get into all that.'

Kelce appeared unharmed and didn't react with any anger to Tart's hit. Instead, he shrugged and turned to the referees, appealing for them to take action.

After the incident, Tart poked fun at his slap on Kelce after being bombarded with messages from angry Swifties.

Tart added fuel to the fire by reposting a famous Dave Chappelle skit depicting American singer and songwriter Rick James slapping comedian Charlie Murphy.

He shared the skit - which sees Chappelle's fictional James character ask Murphy 'what did the five fingers say to the face?' before smacking him - along with two laughing emojis in a clear reference to his altercation with Kelce.

He later shared a series of pictures from the game onto his Instagram account. The caption read: 'I'm too swift with it even in Brazil…'

During the broadcast of the game in Sao Paulo, a rules analyst explained: 'According to (NFL officiating rules analyst) Walt Anderson, they said because it was an open-hand contact to the head, that was not disqualifying action,' he said.

'On this one, they felt it was just an open hand blow to the head, not a closed fist, not a punch, and they did not disqualify in this case.'

Despite a late surge from the Chiefs, it was the Chargers who held on to win 27-21 in their opening game of the 2025 campaign in Sao Paulo.

It doesn't get much easier for the Chiefs because they've got a Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Tart and the Chargers, meanwhile, have another divisional game against Las Vegas Raiders.