Los Angeles Chargers defensive lineman Teair Tart has reportedly been fined by the NFL for slapping Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce in the opening game of the season in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The NFL announces fines on Saturday afternoon, and Tart is expected to be relieved of $12,172 for the first offence of striking during the Chiefs v Chargers match last Saturday.
Taylor Swift’s fiancé and Tart tussled after a third quarter drive. The Chargers nose tackle was unhappy about how Kelce was pushing him and responded by slapping him across the helmet with an open palm, which drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.
Kelce didn’t react to Tart’s slap, but shrugged and appealed to the referees to take action.
As it was an open-handed contact Tart remained on the field, a closed fist or punch would have seen him ejected.
Kansas City coach Andy Reid admitted he was confused about why Tart wasn’t ejected from the match, which the Chargers won 27-21.
“I don’t understand that rule,” said Reid.
“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.
‘I’ll work out that with the league, ‘I can’t get into all that.’
This punch on Travis Kelce was ridiculous — Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers pic.twitter.com/pDi6cQdCeK
— Gatsby (@itsme_Gatsby) September 6, 2025
After the match, Tart posted an unsubtle dig at Kelce, with the comment “I’m too swift with it even in Brazil”, and had to endure the wrath of Taylor Swift fans as a result.
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