Travis Kelce knows what it’s like to be a Cleveland sports fan, but not on Sunday
Most of Travis Kelce’s NFL career has been played without conflicting feelings from those in his Cleveland Heights, Ohio, hometown.
Kelce was developing into one of the NFL’s premier tight ends while the Cleveland Browns were, well, doing Cleveland Browns things.
The Browns have finished below .500 — once even going 0-16 — and out of the playoffs every season since Kelce entered the NFL in 2013.
Things are different now. This season, the Browns not only reached the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, they rocked the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round last week, aligning them against Kelce and the Chiefs in Sunday’s Divisional Round matchup at Arrowhead Stadium.
No mixed emotions this week, however. Not for Kelce.
“Being from Cleveland and playing the Browns has definitely upped the ante a little bit, made a little more personal,” Kelce said. “I absolutely love Cleveland, but I understand we are each other’s enemies right now.”
Kelce was a standout at Cleveland Heights High. He accepted a scholarship to Cincinnati, where his older brother, Jason, who just finished his 10th year in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, played center.
In his final college year, Kelce was an All-Big East tight end. He’s said he appreciates the opportunities he had at Cincinnati, especially after serving a one-year suspension there for failing a drug test.
But in 2018, when he was inducted into Cleveland Heights High’s Hall of Fame, Kelce revealed why, when players introduce themselves for prime-time games and most provide their colleges, Kelce touts his hometown.
“Because of how special Heights is to me, because of how special Heights is to every single person up here,” Kelce said. “How diverse this place is. It builds something in me. Every single thing I do is for this city. It sounds cliche, but I promise you, every single thing i do out there — when you see me dancing in the end zone, that’s Cleveland Heights, for you, right there.”
Kelce has faced the Browns twice in his career, most recently in 2018. The Chiefs played at Cleveland in Patrick Mahomes’ and Baker Mayfield’s first year as NFL starting quarterbacks. The Chiefs won 37-21 and Kelce came up big with 99 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
A homecoming theme prevailed that week, not only because of Kelce. Another Clevelander, then-Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt, was headed home, too. Hunt finished with 91 rushing yards that day, and his three touchdowns meant only hometown players got into the end zone for the Chiefs in that game.
Hunt played two more games for the Chiefs. He was dismissed from the team after a tape surfaced that showed him kicking a woman on the ground. The Browns gave Hunt a second chance, and along with Nick Chubb he has formed one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks this season.
“That’s my brother for life,” Kelce said of Hunt. “To see him grow from everything. ... I had a few red flags coming out of college. It always wasn’t fun for me. I had to break through some things that were tied to my name. You have to challenge yourself as a man, as a human — you have to grow from it.
“I think Kareem has done an unbelievable job of just going out there and just playing football.”
Feelings for his hometown and a former teammate won’t impede business Sunday, Kelce says. His game face is real, as brother Jason learned in 2017. After a touchdown reception, Travis Kelce celebrated by flapping his arms like an eagle toward the Philadelphia sideline.
Kelce will be all smiles if the Chiefs win Sunday and reach the AFC Championship Game for the third straight year.
“I understand what it means to be a Cleveland sports fan, to be a die-hard at that,” Kelce said. “I think a lot of the close friends and family will be wearing Chiefs gear but throwing an orange shirt with Browns helmet on underneath. It’s definitely going to be mixed feelings for a lot of people I know.
“But at the same time, I’m going in with the mindset the Kansas City Chiefs have to win this game.”