National Football League
Updated Feb. 6, 2024 1:13 p.m. ET
LAS VEGAS — Just so you know, Travis Kelce's unique brand of energy wasn't always a thing. Not all the time, anyway.
Speaking to FOX Sports at Super Bowl LVIII's opening night on Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end surprisingly identified a moment 14 years ago as the biggest factor in the evolution of his personality into what we see today.
In 2011, Kelce was trying to make his mark on the college game with Cincinnati when words of wisdom from head coach Butch Jones had an immediate and lasting effect on the way his effusive nature influences his football career.
Following a training session, Jones pulled Kelce to one side and delivered a message that stuck with the two-time Super Bowl champion so profoundly that he remembers it word for word to this day.
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"I wasn't having a great day or wasn't feeling my best physically, having to kind of drag through practice for a couple of hours," Kelce told me. "He looked at me and he said: ‘Travis, you're a drain on me. Either you're a fountain in life or you're a drain.'
"And I don't know why that just registered for me."
For context, Kelce had ups and downs during his college career. He redshirted during his freshman year, managed just one reception in 2009, then was suspended for a year due to a positive test for marijuana usage.
His talent was clear, but as Jones would constantly remind him, there were too many days of dejection alongside the high-octane vibe NFL fans are used to. Jones would tell Kelce that he was a rare figure who could lift the spirits of a locker room by himself, yet also had the power to bring it down.
Hence the fountain or the drain.
Kelce took it to heart, had a stellar year in his final season of college ball — and the rest is history.
"When you see a group of football players and they are high energy and they're having fun and they're enjoying what they do, that's a way different beast from the ones that have got their heads hanging and kind of just going through the motions," he continued.
Ahead of Super Bowl LVIII and Kansas City's clash with the San Francisco 49ers, few could dispute the effect that Kelce has on the Chiefs. He has stood tall during this postseason, snaring two touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills and another against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship, a game in which he went off for 116 yards.
"He has incredible positive energy," quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. "He always brings something to the building."
When asked to describe Kelce as a person, head coach Andy Reid chose the following words: "Fun, funny, and he knows how to make me laugh — that's special."
At last year's Super Bowl, Kelce was a big part of the storyline — in no small part because he was playing against his brother, Philadelphia Eagles lineman Jason Kelce. Their mom Donna became one of America's most popular parents during that postseason, before the Chiefs ultimately clinched another title in a tight contest in Arizona.
This year, the spotlight shines even brighter for Kelce due to his blossoming relationship with pop icon Taylor Swift.
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However, Kelce's colleagues insisted that the media whirlwind surrounding the sports and entertainment power couple was a little more nuanced than most people realize.
Indeed, rather than serving as a distraction, several players were adamant that the way Kelce absorbs the attention and handles it so effortlessly brought a calming effect to the rest of the locker room.
"It is not a distraction for us," kicker Harrison Butker said. "He is so locked in on being a great player and being a great teammate that he wouldn't let anything affect it. And he handles everything comfortably, so it is only a good thing for us."
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.
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National Football League
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