Travis Kelce enjoyed himself a little too much when he went back to school at Tight End University last week.
Kelce, 35, realized the error of his ways after overindulging at the TEU welcome party in Nashville on Monday, June 23, which featured a surprise performance from his girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
“I’m struggling out there Day 2,” Kelce said Tuesday, July 1, on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast. “I am leaking Bud Lights. I am just trying to figure out how I am going to explain a route concept. I pull up absolutely s***-faced from the night before.”
Upon arrival, Kelce was immediately reminded that he had work to do thanks to former Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, who created Tight End U with Kelce and San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.
“Greg comes up to me and he’s like, ‘Alright, Travis. You’ve got 30 minutes.,’” Kelce said.
The Kansas City Chiefs star remembered thinking, “Thirty minutes of what?”
Luckily, Kelce made it through his on-field mentoring session in one piece and lived to tell some encouraging tales from the Tight End U’s fifth annual gathering.
“A lot of the tight ends are like, ‘Whatever you need, I’m here for the good time. I’m one of the hardest workers, but at the same time, I’m here to have some f***ing fun,’” Kelce said on the podcast. “I feel like naturally that’s where the tight end world is. So you get those guys from every single team, when you bring them together, it’s just a big kick it.”
While Kelce acknowledged the weekend has become “less and less about football,” he said it’s “just cool to see 80 tight ends in the NFL come together for a weekend. It blows my f***in’ mind.”
“Sure enough, when you’re getting starting tight ends from all over the place, it feels like it’s an all-star atmosphere,” he explained. “Like an all-star weekend atmosphere, a Pro Bowl weekend atmosphere. It’s really taken off into one of my favorite three days before the season even starts. S***’s fun.”
Kelce said the relaxed, celebratory vibe of Tight End U helps remind him — and all of the other participants — why they love football so much in the first place.
“It’s reassuring,” he said. “Because the s*** in the building can get so tedious and focused and so serious.”
Kelce added, “You see that everybody has these ups and downs, but you can still have fun doing this s***.”
