If you’ve ever heard of Travis Kelce, it’s probably because he’s a powerhouse tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs or because he’s engaged to pop superstar Taylor Swift. Here are five things to know about Kelce before he and the Chiefs visit Jacksonville Oct. 6 for a Monday Night Football clash with the Jaguars (a day after Kelce’s 36th birthday, no less).
He’s a funny guy
Kelce and his brother, retired NFL player Jason Kelce, are hosts of the “New Heights” show on YouTube, with more than 3 million subscribers. It’s ostensibly about football, but the brothers veer into all sorts of pop-culture topics.
He’s a very good football player
Kelce (6-foot-five, 250 pounds) was a high school quarterback who converted to tight end at the University of Cincinnati and was selected by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He’s already caught 15 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown this season. For his career, he’s accounted for more than 12,000 receiving yards and 77 touchdowns, both Chiefs records. He’s caught at least one pass in 174 straight games, also a Chiefs record. He’s a three-time Super Bowl champion and pretty much a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He’s an actor (sort of)
Kelce made a brief appearance this summer in “Happy Gilmore 2” and did five episodes of the FX series “Grotesquerie” in 2024. He also served as host for 20 episodes of “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?” and was the host of “Saturday Night Live” in 2023.
They love him in Cleveland
Browns fans might not be pleased when he lights up their team, but he’s a Cleveland native and earned three varsity letters as a quarterback at Cleveland Heights High School. He and his brother are both members of the school’s Distinquished Alumni Hall of Fame. Kelce also runs a charitable foundation, Eighty-Seven & Running, which helps disadvantaged kids in the Cleveland area.
He’s not afraid to speak his mind
Kelce was one of the most prominent NFL players to take a knee during the National Anthem in 2017 to protest social inequity in the United States. He’s come out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and said in 2017 that he would have no problem with a gay teammate. Kelce went out of his way to publicly drink Bud Light when that beer was subject of a boycott and, in 2023, became the face of a COVID-vaccine campaign.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 5 things to know about Travis Kelce, who’s in Jacksonville for ‘MNF’ against the Jaguars
Reporting by Tom Szaroleta, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
