Travis Kelce has been on a steady and sharp rise in fame since he started balling for the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, but 2023 and 2024 has been a level that not even he could have ever predicted. He can thank his girlfriend, the ever-popular Taylor Swift, for that. Their relationship has been one of the biggest talking points in pop culture since they began dating near the end of last summer.

Along the way, Kelce has found love, but he has also found an incredible amount of global attention. It wasn’t always this way, though, obviously. Before he reached superstardom, both on the field and off the field, Kelce had to work hard to get where he is now. And there was a point where it almost came crashing down before it could take off.

In an interview with ESPN back in 2017, Kelce revealed the moment that made him truly get his act together. 2010 was his toughest year, with a couple of hiccups threatening his football future. First, he was thrown out of a college scholarship program that forced him to work a telemarketing job.

Travis Kelce’s marijuana suspension changed his life

Then, a suspension for marijuana use while at the University of Cincinnati made him realize that the path he was on was not the right one. Kelce was out of college football for a whole season.

The light at the end of the tunnel was that if I do what I’m supposed to do instead of being a knucklehead, I can have a way better life than this.

When speaking about the $8-per-hour job he had to do to survive, Kelce made it clear that he wasn’t built for that office life. He knew he needed to make it big through football, one way or another.

All I had been doing is playing outside, playing sports my entire life. I had never sat down and tried to earn a living like that. That’s not to hit on anybody’s 9-to-5. That’s just not for me.

Kelce ended up focusing on the task at hand, leading to a strong final season in college before taking the NFL by storm. Now, he’s an icon off the field as well, and his arrow continues to point upwards.