Kelce or Kels? CBS Sports’ Ian Eagle has unique plan for what to call Chiefs tight end
Chiefs fans were worked up by the bombshell revealed last month about tight end Travis Kelce.
Turns out that people were pronouncing his name incorrectly. It’s Kels, not KEL-see. But then Kelce said both were correct which only further muddied the water.
This could be a conundrum for NFL broadcasters this season, but CBS Sports play-by-play man Ian Eagle has a plan.
While speaking to Jimmy Trania on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, Eagle was asked about the Kelce name kerfuffle.
“In Travis Kelce’s case, it may be Kels at some point, but it’s accepted as Kelce,” Eagle said. “I think what I’m gonna do this year, Jimmy, I’m not joking, if he drops a pass, I’ll call him Kels. And if he catches a pass, he’s Kelce, so I’m going to go with that.”
So when Eagle is doing games, expect to hear Kelce called more often than Kels.
Eagle also talked about previous meetings with Kelce, and his cameo on the comedy “Moonbase 8.”
“First of all, I find him to be hilarious,” Eagle said. “He is tremendous in our production meetings. He’s always good. He never disappoints. He’s ridiculously likable. There was a show on Showtime, it didn’t last very long. It’s with John C. Reilly. And he’s in the first episode, and I don’t want to give anything away, again, it didn’t really hit. It’s about space travel. They only made seven episodes. I did watch it. (Kelce) kills it. He is absolutely phenomenal in it. So if you want to go search it out on Showtime, give it a shot. ...
“I think part of me believes he’s screwing with people on this Kelce/Kels thing right? And then another part of me believes that maybe there is something to it that back in the day he was called this and you know, his brother’s a professional player too. He absolutely could have corrected somebody along the way at the collegiate level at the professional level.”
‘Fat-shamed’ by Tom Brady
Eagle also shared a funny story about Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady from his days with the Patriots.
In addition to the NFL, Eagle calls Brooklyn Nets games. In one instance he worked a Nets game on Friday, then flew very early in the morning to Boston and traveled to Foxborough for meetings with the players.
Because he was overly tired, Eagle grabbed a large soda and a chocolate doughnut in the meeting room.
“So Tom walks in ... and he says, ‘Having a good morning, Ian?” Eagle recounted. “How’s that all working out for you?’
“I said, ‘Oh, no, no, no. Normally I wouldn’t have a Pepsi at 9 a.m.’ He doesn’t want to hear it. ‘You’re having a Pepsi at 9 a.m. and you’ve eaten a doughnut. You know, I go to a healthy doughnut shop which is only a half mile away.’
“I was like, ‘Well, that’s kind of an oxymoron. Why would you have a healthy doughnut?’
“And I said, ‘Well, have you ever had a Pepsi?’ He goes, ‘No, never had soda.’
“So he crushed me at that point, and I believe he fat-shamed me as well.
“Three week later, we have (the Patriots) again. Road game. First thing he says when he steps up, ‘Where’s your doughnut? Where’s your Pepsi? He knows to keep going back to it. A year later he’ll go back to it. He doesn’t forget (stuff). Ever.’ “
You can listen to the podcast here.
