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Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce wore a shirt to support suspended teammate Rashee Rice prior to the highly-anticipated game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Kelce came out onto the field wearing a shirt which had multiple images of the Chiefs receiver on it - as well as the phrase 'Free 4'.
The tight end wasn't the only one to wear the shirt. Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton was also seen wearing similar attire.
Rice was suspended by the league after racing a Lamborghini on a Dallas highway against his former SMU teammate, Theodore Knox, at speeds of nearly 120 miles per hour.
Their reckless action sent multiple people to the hospital as the wreck involved six cars.
In July, Rice pled guilty to a third-degree felony count of collision involving serious bodily injury and a third-degree felony count of causing bodily injury.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce wore a shirt in support of suspended teammate Rashee Rice
Rice has been suspended after he pled guilty to charges stemming from a road racing incident in Dallas in March of 2024 that involved six cars and sent multiple people to the hospital
Rice was sentenced to five-years probation and 30 days of jail time and was ordered to pay $115,481.91 to victims for medical expenses.
Additionally, Rice settled a lawsuit filed by two victims by agreeing to pay $1million plus their legal expenses. He still faces another lawsuit from a different victim.
While Rice's legal punishment was set and covered, the NFL still took the step of suspending him for six games due to violation of the personal conduct policy.
So, Kelce and Thornton's support drew criticism on social media. '4 could have killed people Not a good look for Kelce,' read one post on X.
Another said, 'Maybe he shouldn't break the law...just saying...'
'Seriously? The man was speeding and caused a multi vehicle collision and we want to free him? Screw you @tkelce,' said another NFL fan.
Rice missed Sunday's game - the second game of his six-game punishment - which ended in defeat for the Chiefs.
Kansas City lost a potential revenge match against the Eagles by a score of 20-17.
Multiple mistakes by the team's offensive line led to quarterback Patrick Mahomes taking two sacks and ten total quarterback hits. In the end, a late touchdown to cut the deficit to three did not lead to a comeback.
