PHOENIX — Travis Kelce wouldn’t be on the fast track to the Pro Football Hall of Fame without his brother, Jason. Once a talented tight end prospect at the University of Cincinnati, the younger Kelce — flamboyant and wild in his own way — was more trouble than he was worth.
Travis was suspended from the Bearcats due to a violation of team rules. Cincinnati didn’t want him around the program and was ready to move on from the younger Kelce.
In came big brother Jason, a staple of what the Cincinnati program represented. Travis needed to get back on his feet.
“I got my scholarship taken, too. I was actually staying with my brother,” Travis said this week. “I was in his room, his house. Kind of like two brothers growing up living in the same room. In terms of rent, I wasn’t paying it. In terms of food, he was helping me with that.
“I was literally living off him for quite a while. He was my lifeline. That being said, every single day I was trying to do the right things.”
The process wasn’t easy to get Travis reinstated to Cincinnati. Jason stuck his neck out for Travis as he was getting his life back together.
“He’s matured,” Jason said regarding his younger brother. “He came in young and very rambunctious, but we all change over the course of a career. Life changes as we get older, with values and energy level. He’s gotten older. He’s gotten more mature.”
Jason wasn’t going to allow Travis to throw it all away, and he didn’t want Cincinnati to waste an opportunity, either. Travis was on the right path, a road that was worth Cincinnati taking another chance on him.
“He went into the coaches office and talked to numerous coaches to try and give me another chance,” Travis said. “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.”
Twelve years later, the Kelce brothers are the first brothers to face each other in a Super Bowl. They are the stars of Super Bowl LVII, both on their own unique paths to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and franchise icons for the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
USATSI
Two-way street
Jason has always looked out for Travis over the years, being the…
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