Travis Kelce is one of the most celebrated entities in the football world. His popularity extends to the entire sports fraternity, and even all-time greats like Charles Barkley happen to be his big fans. Recently, the duo collaborated for an interactive session for NBA on TNT, speaking about their lives and professional careers. That’s when an interesting topic popped up, with Kelce confessing his love for the name Charles as he always wanted to replicate the basketball legend.
Advertisement
Times have passed, but the legacy of Chuck still influences several generations down the line. The Chiefs tight end is no different. As a child, he drew great inspiration from the basketball star, and that actually fueled his path to becoming a star athlete.
Travis Kelce and Charles Barkley wanted to have each other’s name
While the duo has reached the pinnacle of success, they recently shared interesting memories of childhood and fun stories on The Steam Room podcast. It was a great session, and Kelce was the special guest who reflected on his Super Bowl-winning moments and preparations for the upcoming season. Travis was asked to comment on a widely renowned theory according to which, he wanted to change his name to Charles when he was a kid.
The veteran star acknowledged this rumor and said that growing up, he looked upon Barkley as a great leader and an idol. “When I was five years old, this was probably 1993-94. I moved closer to the city. So when we moved, I thought it was the perfect time to tell the neighborhood or the kids that I was meeting that you know, I’m officially changing my name so….i didn’t love Travis. Chuck was my favorite basketball player,” Kelce explained the story.
“I was telling everybody in the neighborhood that my name is Charles,” he added. Kelce mentioned that the news initially broke out at a block party where his mom hung out with a couple of others, and they started addressing him as Charles. His mother was confused initially but then understood it was him trying to impersonate the basketball superstar.
Interestingly, Chuck claimed that he wanted his name changed to Travis because he thought it was really cool. The basketball star was greatly inspired by his high school senior, whose name was also “Travis”. So in short, Charles Barkley wanted to be Travis Barkley, and Travis Kelce wanted to be Charles Kelce. This is one helluva co-incidence. Commenting on the same, a Twitter user wrote, “so Travis Barkley or Charles Kelce..doesn’t sound strange at all.”
Kelce reflects on his emotional Super Bowl moment
The Kelce brothers created history this year, coming face-to-face in a championship game. Although it was a treat for the football fans, it was quite an emotional experience for his family. While Travis cherished his success, Jason had a heart-wrenching moment accepting defeat in a very close game.
Travis mentioned that he experienced a mixed array of feelings. He couldn’t see his brother walking off the field with a disappointed face. All in all, it was a historical moment for the Kelce family. Jason and his team played their tails off and put up a tough fight for the Chiefs. In the end, it was Mahomes & Co. who came out victorious.
