Travis Kelce’s work ethic shouldn’t be doubted, even when he’s dating a music superstar.
Over the past year, we’ve all seen tons of media coverage about Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. To the point where some armchair experts may believe that Kelce’s slow start to the 2024 NFL season might have something to do with Swift and their relationship being a distraction. But those in and around the Kansas City Chiefs’ facility don’t believe that to be the case, according to reporting from Dianna Russini of The Athletic during her appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show.
“I remember opening week, they were playing on that Thursday night game,” Russini recounted. “I was talking to somebody in that building. It was that Tuesday night. So that’s like a typical, you know, tough practice for the Chiefs when they’re playing on a Thursday night when they’re playing to open up the week. And this person I was on the phone with was leaving the facility, and it was pretty late. Travis Kelce was there working with bands, just doing extra workouts the week of a game.
“I know you hear these stories all the time ‘first one in, last one out.’ But there’s something to that, when you’re that good of a player. You’ve won as much as he has. He’s on top of the world. If I’m him I’m going home and FaceTiming with my amazing girlfriend. I’m not sitting there working on my bands, but he was doing that.
“So look, it’s just a long way of me saying. I think from the outside, it seems he’s really busy doing other things, but the people there tell me he’s all in on football. Like they don’t have these kinds of concerns with his schedule.”
The optics of Travis Kelce’s off-the-field life is that he’s running around the world following Taylor Swift at her concerts, and now he’s in movies like Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2 and TV shows like FX’s Grotesquerie.
The Chiefs are more than just Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce’s poor play is a more digestible narrative piece to media consumers if it’s reduced to its lowest common denominator: Taylor Swift. But Kelce was overproducing the last few years because the Chiefs lacked a running game, so he was depended upon to do more. They also didn’t have a consistent wide receiver since losing Tyreek Hill to put pressure on the outside edges of the field.Now the Chiefs have Isiah Pacheco at running back. Wide receivers Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy are playing great to start the season. So even though Kelce “only” has eight catches for 69 yards, that’s not the problem. There is no problem, in fact because Kansas City is 3-0.
Even though he’s 34 years old, and even if does have a bad season, that’s the nature of the game sometimes. He’s still one of the most accomplished and productive tight ends in NFL history with a Hall of Fame resume. The last thing anyone should do is worry about Travis Kelce.