13 Years Before Signing $57,250,000 Contract, Travis Kelce Failed a Marijuana Test Which Stunningly Put Him on Course For Best TE In the NFL

Travis Kelce is considered the best tight end in the league currently, but at one point, his future was in doubt when he failed a marijuana test in his sophomore year of college. Travis Kelce was never seen as a star in high school or college. He was still drafted relatively high, in the third round with the 63rd pick, but nobody had massive expectations from him. From there, he has worked his way to a four-year, $57.25 million contract that he signed this year (as per Spotrac), 13 years after his college suspension.

Kelce’s suspension had a lasting impact on his career. He learned a lot from his mistakes, and he’s worked hard to get to where he is. Kelce is a two-time Super Bowl winner, a multiple-time first-team All-Pro, multiple-time Pro Bowler, and the best tight end in the game. He’s been playing out of his mind, and if he continues at this rate, he could even enter discussions for the greatest tight end in NFL history. His numbers and consistency already compete with Rob Gronkowski.

Travis Kelce Explained How Failed Marijuana Test Put Him on Correct Course

Failure in life is something everyone has to adapt to. Humans are bound to fail. However, it’s how you react to your downs and lows that define who you become.

A failed marijuana test and a college suspension might end many athletes’ careers. It could be too devastating to come back from. However, for Kelce, this was not the case.

As per a story from Fox2Now, Kelce explained that the incident set him on the right path. At the time, Kelce was splitting time between a TE who was rarely used and a wildcat QB who was also rarely used.

However, the suspension set him firmly toward the TE route. “What [the suspension] did was it really kicked me into the tight end room,” Kelce explained on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. “I was still playing QB then. It was like, ‘Alright, you can come walk on the team, but we don’t need a quarterback. You can just be an athlete on scout team for a year, we’ll figure it out.’”

He had an alright junior year in 2011 following the suspension, and he finally stepped it up in his senior year when he put up respectable numbers. The rest is history.

Kelce Will Carry His Dominant Form Into the 2023-24 Season In Hopes of Repeating

Travis Kelce is one of the biggest parts of the Chiefs’ offense, if not the biggest piece. Especially after Tyreek Hill’s departure, Kelce is easily Patrick Mahomes’ number one target.

After winning the Super Bowl last year, and playing a massive role in it with 81 yards and a touchdown grab, Kelce knows that he has to stay in peak form to help Kansas City get back to where they were.

About the author

Ashish Priyadarshi

Ashish Priyadarshi is The SportsRush's content manager and editor. Ashish freelanced for 1 year in the NFL division before taking on an editorial role in the company. He then tacked on managing content while adding on a writing role in the NBA division. Ashish has been closely following the NFL and NBA since the 2012 season when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and Derrick Rose was at the height of his powers. Since then, Ashish has focused on honing his knowledge for both leagues in, even writing crossover pieces. In his free time, Ashish is an avid basketball player, he loves to watch movies and TV shows, immersing himself in the cinematic world. Ashish studies computer science and data science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and would love to mesh his love for sports with his technical skills.

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