Chiefs-Cardinals referee explains the Travis Kelce fumble recovery call

There is a referee's explanation for the overturned call on the Travis Kelce fumble and recovery in the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals game. Obviously we know what Chiefs fans think of the call but here's what the referee had to say (via the KC Star's Terez Paylor):

"The tight end caught the ball, took a number of steps, got hit as he was going to the ground before any part of his body was on the ground, the ball came loose. The ball remained loose. He tried to get it, the other guy tried to get it, but the ball continued to be loose and rolled to a stop, at which time a player five yards away picked up the ball. So, he actually had a clear recovery. So, the challenge was that we had initially ruled it was a catch, and he wa down by contact. And, when we looked at it in replay, we saw that indeed the ball had come loose, he was not down by contact and then if there is a clear recovery, then we can reverse it and give the ball to the defense. And that's what happened."

Here's the referee's explanation of the Travis Kelce fumble: pic.twitter.com/LX4212MoPn

— Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) December 8, 2014

I'll refer you to out other post on the fumble for my thoughts.

Click the link below for the NFL's breakdown of the play.

#KCvsAZ @DeanBlandino breaks down the Kelce fumble #NFLInstantReplay @TroyVincent23 http://t.co/FklOxsPfTn

— NFL Football Ops (@NFLFootballOps) December 8, 2014