Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been showing signs of life in recent weeks, and he’s crediting a move from a former NBA star he's long admired with helping him regain his explosiveness. 

The basic move is a shoulder wiggle, and Kelce’s source is Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon, aka "The Dream."  Back in the day the move was called the “Dream Shake,” and Kelce used it to help break three tackles against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. 

“I grew up watching that, so I emulated that,” Kelce said in an  NFL Films video while sitting on the sideline during the game, with the story picked up by Jesse Newell of The Athletic. “Shout out to ‘the Dream.'”

The stats back up Kelce’s elusiveness. According to Pro Football Focus, Kelce was actually credited with forcing four missed tackles during the game, and that number was higher one higher than the entire output of 2024 for the Chiefs tight end. 

“That’s him feeling young and vibrant,” Chiefs tight end Robert Tonyan said.

Kelce had six catches for 78 yards in the win, and his yards-per-game average and yards-per-target average are higher than last year’s numbers. He’s also on track to double his touchdown total from last year. 

Conditioning is part of it. Kelce came to camp looking decidedly thinner, and both coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahopmes noticed the change. 

“You could see that his body was in good shape,” Mahomes said, “and he was moving faster than he even was the year before.”

As for the Olajuwon comp, that has a lot to do with Kelce’s advanced football age, too. “The Dream” played back in the 90s, and young teammates like running back Brashard Smith who appeared in the video were born after Olajuwon retired. 

“He’s still got it, man. He’s got the vet moves,” Mahomes said. “You get up there a little older, you know how to use the other guy’s athleticism against him. And I feel like I have a couple of those as well. Maybe not the shake yet. I’m going to have to learn that one from him.”

The Chiefs are clearly having a lot of fun with all this, which is a lot easier now that they’re winning. The truth is that Kelce is more elusive because receiver Xavier Worthy is back in the lineup, which means the tight end can operate more in space without being double teamed. The effectiveness of the Dream shake is almost certainly Kelce having fun with the media, but he still knows how to make defenders miss by taking an angle when he’s open in the middle of the field.