Chiefs’ Travis Kelce says college football suspension served as wake-up call, sparked move to tight end

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Travis Kelce will begin his 10th season in the NFL in September. 

Since the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Kelce in the third round in 2013, he has been named a First-team All-Pro four times and has developed into one of the best tight ends in the NFL. Kelce’s 10,344 yards currently put him in the fourth spot on the all-time tight end receiving yards list.

If Kelce continues at the pace he is on, he will likely end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his native Ohio. But, at one point during his college football days, Kelce’s football future was in jeopardy when he was suspended for his redshirt sophomore season due to a failed drug test.

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During a recent appearance on the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast with three-time Pro Bowler Taylor Lewan and NFL free agent linebacker Will Compton, Kelce admitted that his party habits in college contributed to the failed drug test ahead of the 2010 Allstate Sugar Bowl.

“I got kicked out of college because of it,” he said. “I partied a little too much down there, got hit with a drug test and from that point on, I realized I gotta tighten the f— up.”

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Kelce also noted that the indiscretion led to him making the move from the Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback room to the tight ends room. 

Early in his college football career, Kelce mostly played quarterback out of the Wildcat formation. Following the suspension, he became more of a traditional tight end.

“What it did was it really kicked me into the tight end room. I was still playing QB then,” Kelce said in reference to the suspension. “It was like, ‘Alright, you can come walk on the team, but we don’t need a quarterback. You can just be an athlete on scout team for a year, we’ll figure it out.'”

In 2011, Kelce had 150 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns for Cincinnati, but he really shined at tight end during his senior year. Kelce racked up 722 yards and caught eight touchdowns during his final season with the Bearcats.

The Kelce brothers spent a couple of seasons together at Cincinnati, and Travis said his older brother played a large role in helping him return to the team.

“He went into the coach’s office and talked to numerous coaches to try and give me another chance,” Kelce said prior to this February’s Super Bowl between the Chiefs and the Eagles. “I’m forever in debt to this guy for putting his name, our name – the Kelce name – on the line. When I say I owe it all to him, I really do.”

Earlier this year, Travis became the first tight end in league history to lead the Super Bowl winner in receiving yards twice.

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