Travis Kelce’s Dad Ed Kelce Defends Him Against NFL Critics

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Ed Kelce is coming to Travis Kelce’s defense.

Travis Kelce’s father defended his son against criticism by sharing evidence of his impressive performance on social media.

Okay, seriously, if anyone dares to doubt Travis Kelce, let me tell you something! I was just looking at the stats, and as of November 23rd, after ten weeks of the season, he’s absolutely crushing it – he has more receiving yards than any other tight end in the league! It’s amazing, honestly. He’s just on another level!

Travis has had a remarkable season so far. Just recently, he made Chiefs history by scoring his 84th touchdown during the game against the Denver Broncos.

In October, the 36-year-old player achieved another career highlight, scoring his 100th touchdown including playoff games. He celebrated this achievement by playfully recreating a dance move from his fiancé, Taylor Swift’s, music video for “The Fate of Ophelia.”

Even though Travis has had success himself, he admits the Chiefs’ current 5-5 record isn’t ideal.

The Super Bowl champion explained to reporters on November 21st that this season feels unlike any other he’s experienced. He added that he enjoys the daily challenges it presents.

The football star also mentioned he might retire after this season, similar to how his brother, Jason Kelce, retired in March 2024.

He explained that after watching his brother’s experience and understanding how the league operates, he wants to let the Chiefs know by April whether he plans to return next season, giving them time to prepare.

But regardless of what happens, Travis noted that he’d like to have some agency in the matter.

He said he’d prefer to decide his future before the team starts considering draft picks or free agency options. He plans to put off thinking about it until after the season is over.

In the meantime, keep reading for more facts about Travis…

Although Travis Kelce is now strongly associated with Kansas City, Missouri, he actually spent his childhood growing up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

During game broadcasts where players are introduced, the announcer proudly calls out his hometown rather than his college, the University of Cincinnati.

Which, as you might guess, has irked some fellow alums. 

Travis Kelce explained that while he deeply values his time at the University of Cincinnati, it wasn’t always easy. Speaking in 2019 at his Cleveland Heights High School Hall of Fame induction alongside his brother Jason Kelce, he admitted he faced challenges, including losing his scholarship due to some poor decisions. He joked that he was likely the ‘Heights guy’ everyone knew who’d made mistakes.

He explained that Cleveland Heights wasn’t just meaningful to him personally, but to everyone in the community. He highlighted the city’s diversity and how it inspires him, saying everything he does is motivated by his love for Cleveland Heights. He even joked that his celebrations on the field are a tribute to the city and its people.

2. About that revoked scholarship…

Following Cincinnati’s perfect 2009 season and their Big East championship win, Travis tested positive for marijuana before the 2010 Sugar Bowl. This happened after he partied excessively on New Year’s Eve while in New Orleans.

He didn’t just miss the bowl game; the NCAA suspended him for the entire 2010 season and he lost his college scholarship. This left him without housing or meals, so he moved in with his brother Jason – sharing Jason’s room with his teammates – and got a job as a telemarketer, calling people to gauge their opinions on the Affordable Care Act.

They did, and Travis could not wait to get back on the field.

Travis was a multi-sport athlete in high school, playing hockey, baseball, and basketball before focusing on football. He originally played quarterback and was a two-star recruit for Cincinnati, but switched to tight end after a suspension – it was a requirement for being allowed back on the team.

When I was drafted by the Chiefs in 2013, we already had a great quarterback in Zach Collaros, but we were looking to improve both our running and passing offenses,” Travis explained to Arrowhead Pride. “I spoke with my coach, Butch Jones, and he felt a tight end was what we needed. Luckily, my abilities and athleticism fit the role perfectly, and it turned out to be a great fit for me.

As he explained to GQ magazine in 2017, reflecting on a particularly embarrassing experience, he’d always been told he was naturally suited to play tight end.

Travis often hung out at the house on 127 W. Nixon Street with Jason and other members of the Bearcats team, and things often got lively thanks to plenty of beer.

According to college friend and teammate Tom DeTemple, the brothers spent hours playing Nintendo 64, often combining it with drinking games. He told the New York Times before the 2024 Super Bowl that they’d create spontaneous games while playing and were surprisingly skilled at them.

5. And suffice it to say, Travis is extremely proud of being a Bearcat.

Before the 2023 Super Bowl, the Chiefs player told reporters how much Cincinnati means to him. He’s very proud of his time at the University of Cincinnati, where he recently earned his degree, and enjoys giving back to the school whenever he can. He especially misses the friends and people he met there who have supported him through everything.

Even while facing scrutiny from the NCAA, he explained that the players, coaches, and staff at the university had faith in his ability to improve and succeed, which meant a lot to him then.

After nearly ten years away from school to pursue a career in football, Travis finally completed his bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2022. He didn’t receive his diploma until April 2024, when he was surprised with a special graduation ceremony following a live recording of his podcast, New Heights, with Jason at Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Arena.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! As soon as he got his diploma and shook the dean’s hand, this grad immediately cracked open a beer and just drank it. It was such a spontaneous, classic move – totally him!

And Travis was going to graduate in 2022 but he missed his flight.

Travis Kelce wasn’t one of the first tight ends drafted in 2013, largely because of some personal issues. He was selected by the Chiefs in the third round, as the fifth tight end chosen overall. Once Travis joined the team, coach Andy Reid – who had previously coached Travis’s brother, Jason, in Philadelphia – asked Jason to give him a positive character reference about Travis.

Andy and Travis have three Super Bowl rings to show for Jason’s endorsement.

Travis used to listen to Randy Newman’s song “Burn On” before every game for years, although his pre-game music choices have since evolved.

Okay, so I’m from the east side of Cleveland, and honestly, this song just hits different. I don’t even know why, but every time I hear it, I instantly think about my family and everything I have. It makes me really appreciate my life and where I’m at, you know? I said this a while back on that PFT Live podcast, and it still rings true.

Let us explain: It’s in the opening credits of Major League, the ultimate Cleveland sports movie.

9. Everyone, including Travis, is mispronouncing his last name.

Everyone’s been pronouncing Kelce as “Kel-see,” but the correct pronunciation actually rhymes with “else.”

The news came out when Chris Jones, Travis’ teammate, mentioned it on the show Inside the NFL back in January – he even said, “It’s just crazy, right?” Travis and his brother Jason later confirmed the story when they talked to their dad, Ed Kelce, on their podcast, New Heights.

Jason was confused. “Seriously, why did you change your name? And why did we all think it was ‘Kel-see’ for so long – for my first 27 years, and Trav’s 25?”

Ed admitted he “got tired of correcting people” but urged his son to “do whatever you want.”

Travis has worn the number 87 throughout his NFL career to honor his brother, Jason, who was born in 1987.

Travis Kelce shared with NFL Films that the story of his family’s NFL success – with both him and his brother Jason reaching the league – began in 1987, the year he was born. He said this just before the 2023 Super Bowl, where his team, the Kansas City Chiefs, played against his brother Jason’s Philadelphia Eagles.

Travis Kelce’s Eighty Seven & Running foundation has consistently supported Operation Breakthrough, a Kansas City nonprofit learning center. He first volunteered there in 2015, reading The Cat in the Hat to the children, and has been involved ever since.

Yes, reader, he wore the hat.

Since then, Travis has supported the program by investing in their Smart Lab and purchasing the building next door. This allowed them to create the Ignition Lab, where students transformed old, discarded cars into functional electric vehicles.

Travis and Jason affectionately call their podcast listeners “92 percenters.” This nickname comes from a comment Jason made about a football play – the quarterback sneak – which he said succeeds about 92% of the time when a team only needs to gain one yard for a touchdown.

Listeners loved the podcast so much they playfully started calling themselves the “92 percenters,” as described on the podcast’s website, which compared the nickname to a shared inside joke.

Who were the Kelce brothers to argue with that?

Travis Kelce works with three trainers – Alex Skacel, Andrew Spruill, and Laurence Justin Ng – and typically has one of them travel with him to help him stay in peak condition for football throughout the year, according to The Athletic.

Alex, a physical therapist, remembered Travis wanting to go for a run late at night after Paris Fashion Week. Travis had skipped his usual workout that day and felt the need to exercise.

According to an interview with the New York Times in April, the trainer said they were doing sprint workouts on the bridges above the river at midnight. He emphasized that no matter the location, the athlete always makes time to complete his necessary tasks.

Travis has known his personal chef, Kumar Ferguson, since they were kids growing up together in Cleveland Heights.

I remember back in 2016, he was just driving a truck and loved to cook as a hobby. Then, out of the blue, Travis gave him this incredible chance – it completely changed his life!

Kumar recalled that the person said, ‘I really want to commit to a healthier diet and make a big change.’ Kumar responded by saying he was on board, and just a few days later, he found himself in Kansas City.

He handles a wide range of tasks, including everything from keeping Travis’s fridge full to making sure the Chiefs players get nutritious lunches at practice.

Travis Kelce has been getting a lot of attention for his facial hair lately. He shared on his podcast, New Heights, that he shaved his beard after the season in 2023, but kept his mustache to copy the look favored by his coach, Andy Reid, and continued the style into 2024.

In April 2024, Travis signed a two-year contract worth $34.25 million, making him the NFL’s highest-paid tight end – a first for his career.

Which finally put an end to years of chatter about how much money he wasn’t making.

In a 2023 interview with Vanity Fair, Travis Kelce joked that his managers and agents frequently point out he deserves a raise. He said whenever he brings up wanting more money, they always suggest he ask the Kansas City Chiefs for it.

By that point, he had so many other ways to make money that he was more interested in enjoying his work than earning a high salary.

He said the idea of a free market sounds good, but it’s frustrating when you don’t succeed. He emphasized that he enjoys winning and is happy with his current position.

It’s tough seeing other players earn so much money – it definitely stings a little, he confessed. It makes you wonder if you’re being fairly compensated. He wasn’t sure if pushing harder would actually get him the salary he deserves, but he genuinely loves going to work every day.

Travis developed a passion for clothing early on, growing up in Cleveland Heights. He described his high school as a daily fashion show, according to a 2023 interview with Vanity Fair.

He transformed a bedroom into a walk-in closet to store his extensive collection of designer clothes and over 300 pairs of sneakers. This included a pair of size-13 Nike Air Mags, which he splurged on with a significant part of his first professional salary—even though they didn’t quite fit.

He told the Wall Street Journal that early in his career, before sneaker apps were common, he’d just buy whatever size of shoe he could find that he liked.

He’s a big fan of Nike, especially since they sponsor him, but he also loves Chuck Taylor sneakers. They remind him of Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez, the amazing baseball player from the movie The Sandlot.

18. Among his dozens of investments, Travis co-owns Ohio-brewed Garage Beer with Jason.

Travis shared in a statement last June that he enjoys a beer from time to time, so he’s thrilled to be an owner of Garage Beer and help create a great light beer. He believes there’s nothing quite like a cold beer to bring people together, and that’s what he and Jason value most about beer – connecting with friends, family, and having a good time.

19. We’re sensing a theme when it comes to Travis’ guilty pleasure TV choices.

He reminisced about the TV show Gossip Girl, describing it on his podcast, New Heights, as a classic New York high school drama filled with gossip and people talking negatively about each other. He called it ‘awesome’.

His new favorite show? Peacock’s Emmy-winning backstab-a-ganza The Traitors.

After 12 seasons in the NFL, 35-year-old Travis has recently been sharing more about the physical challenges of playing football.

He’s quietly endured a lot of hardship from the start of his career. It began when a knee injury—a small fracture—forced him to miss his first season and led to the first of ten surgeries he’s undergone.

Travis Kelce recently shared on the New Heights podcast that he tried to give Taylor Swift a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it while she was performing in Kansas City, but wasn’t able to.

She heard through mutual connections that Travis wanted to meet her, so she reached out to him.

He explained to WSJ. Magazine that she had clearly explained the situation to him, and how fortunate he was that she contacted him.

Travis has always loved French toast, especially when it’s topped with whipped cream and syrup.

But more recently he’s become a fan of his girlfriend’s homemade Pop-Tarts and cinnamon rolls.

23. At least one of Travis’ ringtones is Chris Farley shrieking “For the love of God!” in Tommy Boy.

Okay, so I was telling Taylor—you HAVE to understand, she needs to get this—that I’ve discovered this whole amazing world of comedy. I seriously had to introduce her to it! I mean, I’m obsessed with Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell – those guys are everything! I basically told her, ‘This is it, this is my absolute favorite thing ever, you need to experience this!’ It’s just… my jam, you know?

After the Chiefs won the AFC Championship in 2019, Travis Kelce shouted “You’ve got to fight for your right to party!” This inspired the team to play the Beastie Boys’ song of the same name after every touchdown scored at home games at Arrowhead Stadium.

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach described Travis Kelce as a huge boost to the team’s energy in a 2020 interview with ESPN. It’s difficult to measure exactly how valuable that is, but Kelce’s personality – his character, charisma, and passion – is contagious. Everyone in the Chiefs organization is friends with him. He’s a naturally positive influence who lifts the spirits, improves focus, and makes being at work enjoyable.

The person who famously introduced the song into their life surprisingly didn’t learn all the lyrics to the 1986 hit until they had to sing it with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in February 2023.

In May 2024, Travis revealed his three favorite Taylor Swift songs: “Blank Space,” “The Alchemy,” and “So High School.”

When asked about them a few months later, he gave a different answer, saying, “I love them all—every single one!”

I remember reading that he specifically said, back in August 2025, that his favorite song from The Life of a Show Girl is “Opalite.” It’s always been a standout track to me, so it’s great to know it’s his personal favorite too!

People began comparing Travis Kelce to Tony Gonzalez, the Chiefs’ all-time great tight end who retired in 2013 after 17 seasons, very early in Kelce’s career.

Back in 2015, as people began to seriously discuss whether Travis would exceed Tony’s accomplishments—and how letdown fans would be if he didn’t—Travis claimed he ignored all the talk.

I’m my own toughest critic,” he explained to Complex. “I’m aiming for a record-breaking season – I want to have the best statistical year any tight end has ever had.

In 2024, Travis became the Kansas City Chiefs’ all-time leader in receptions, breaking the previous record with his 917th catch.

On the podcast New Heights, Travis Kelce reflected on how things often come back around. He noted that being a leader on the Kansas City Chiefs – a team with roots dating back to the 1960s – feels special, as they’re one of the original franchises still performing at a high level. He attributes much of their success to the team’s long history and specifically credited Tony Gonzalez as a significant mentor, expressing his strong admiration for him.

27. Of Travis’ many accomplishments, keeping his house in order on his own isn’t one of them.

“He can’t clean,” mom Donna Kelce told Extra in September 2024. “He can’t cook.”

But perhaps hosting a special someone served as extra motivation to get it together.

“He’s getting a little better,” Donna acknowledged. “I think he’s getting some help.”

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2025-11-24 00:49