"I got kicked off the team": Travis Kelce once shared his story on how he bounced back at Cincinnati after college suspension
It wasn't easy for Travis Kelce during his time at Cincinnati during college. There came a time when he thought it was all over for him in football after he was suspended for the 2010 season having tested positive for marijuana.
Coming through that wasn't easy, but Kelce was determined to bounce back and make a name for himself in football. He had moderate numbers in the 2011 season before going full tilt in 2012, his last year in college, where he recorded 45 receptions for 722 yards and eight touchdowns.
However, all of this wouldn't have happened if not for his brother, Jason Kelce, who literally begged coaches to give Travis one more chance to prove himself. Recalling the same with another famous tight end, Shannon Sharpe, on his show "Club Shay Shay" in January 2021, Travis Kelce shared his comeback story.
"When I got kicked off the team that year was my brother's senior year, he, I mean, the entire offseason, he was begging the coaches to give me another chance and set a list of things I had to accomplish to earn the benefit of playing football again at the University of Cincinnati, or at least appreciate the opportunity of playing football again at Cincinnati," Travis told Sharpe (0:40 onwards).
"I'm forever thankful for that conversation. It took a lot of guts for him to go in there and put his name on the line for me, knowing that I had thrown this scholarship away and down the drain like it meant nothing to me."
Jason Kelce had a hand in Andy Reid drafting Travis Kelce to Kansas City Chiefs
Though Travis Kelce had all the skills to do well in the NFL, teams were hesitant about drafting him owing to his previous problems with drugs.
Sharpe, during the same segment, recalled a rumor where it was reported that prior to drafting Travis to the Chiefs in 2013, coach Andy Reid, who drafted his brother Jason for the Philadelphia Eagles, asked Jason if Travis was worth giving an opportunity to. Travis obliged that the story was true.
"It's the God-honest truth, man," Travis told Sharpe. "When I tell you, I had never been more excited, but it was like a roller coaster of a call, and it all happened within 15 seconds.
"I answer the phone, thinking it's going to be St. Louis. He says, 'Hey, how you doing? Is this Travis?' I said, 'Yes.' He says, 'This is Andy Reid with the Kansas City Chiefs,' and I’m talking like, 'Whoa, let’s go!' I’m ready to rock and roll."
Further, on the phone call, Andy Reid asked to give the phone to his brother Jason. Reid then asked Jason if Travis would screw this up or if he deserved the opportunity.
It seems Reid made the right call to draft Travis Kelce in the third round, as his partnership with quarterback Patrick Mahomes would give the Chiefs three Super Bowls, forming a dynasty in the past few years.