Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach gave an honest take on how much his tight end Travis Kelce has matured since his younger days
The Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce is not only one of the best players in all of pro football, he’s also one of the most recognizable. Thanks to a few trips to the Super Bowl, a stint hosting SNL, and (of course) his high-profile romance with Taylor Swift, he’s become a star in pop culture as well. But KC GM Brett Veach remembers a much younger – more precocious – version of his talented tight end.
Young And Full Of Fire
In an ESPN article published on January 9th, the Chiefs’ personnel guru stated that Travis Kelce has matured a lot during his tenure with the team. Now an icon at Arrowhead, the young player had to learn how to focus on what head coach Andy Reid expected from him.
“When Travis came to us, he was a little bit of a party guy,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach. “(Head coach) Andy (Reid) showed a lot of patience and tolerance.”
“Travis wanted attention. He wanted a lot of things. He did things differently than everyone else. Coming here, having to do things a certain way and really organizing and prioritizing his life was a challenge.”
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Finding Success
Even Travis Kelce himself has admitted that he wasn’t always the most disciplined player and that he had to learn what it meant to be a pro.
“I was late to meetings, hanging out too much throughout the week, not necessarily focusing and showing to my coaches that I was giving everything I could,” Kelce said. “I learned you can show your personality and have fun but you have to be accountable to the guy next to you and be able to handle the highs and the lows of the game.”
GM Veach concurred with Kelce’s assessment, but he also says that it helped form a bond between the star pass catcher and his coach.
“There were a ton of bumps early on, but Coach’s love and faith for Travis never wavered,” Veach said. “He got him through a rough time early on.”
Travis Kelce and the Chiefs (11-6) are set to take on the Miami Dolphins (11-6) in the first round of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday night. Kansas City heads into the postseason looking to defend its standing as the NFL’s top team.
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