Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs’ star tight end, has opened up about the marijuana suspension that nearly derailed his NFL career, revealing how it both hindered his draft stock and redirected his path to greatness. Selected in the third round (No. 63 overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Chiefs, Kelce’s journey to becoming one of the league’s best tight ends was complicated by off-field concerns stemming from his time at the University of Cincinnati, as discussed on the April 30, 2025, episode of the New Heights podcast, co-hosted with his brother Jason Kelce.
During his sophomore year in 2010, Travis was suspended for the entire season after failing a drug test for marijuana, a decision that raised red flags for NFL teams, per People.com. On New Heights, Jason, a former Eagles center who retired in 2024, reflected on the impact of the suspension, saying, “The funny thing about Trav is that there was nothing outside of the injuries. I guess you had two things—you had a few injuries, and then you obviously had the marijuana thing stemming from your sophomore year.” Travis, now 35, lightened the mood, joking, “You saying ‘marijuana’ makes it sound so more intense. Why does that word sound so intense?” However, Jason noted the serious repercussions, adding, “You probably got drafted an entire round later than you should have… Everybody whoever knew you knew you were a great kid. You just had, like, a mess up with weed. Sorry. And then all of a sudden, teams aren’t picking you for it.”
At the time, NFL scouts were wary. A 2013 report from Pro Football Weekly cited a scout calling Kelce a “train wreck, character-wise,” while another AFC scout told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Bob McGinn, “There is not one coach, head coach, who likes that kid… He’s not talented enough to warrant all the other stuff,” per The Athletic’s April 25, 2025, article. Despite the concerns, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who had previously coached Jason in Philadelphia, took a chance on Travis, a decision that paid off spectacularly. Travis has since made five Super Bowl appearances, winning three (LIV, LVII, LVIII), and is considered one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history, with 11,328 career receiving yards and 74 touchdowns through 2024, per Pro Football Reference.
The suspension, while a setback, also reshaped Travis’ career trajectory. Initially a quarterback at Cincinnati, where he played in the Wildcat formation and recorded 257 passing yards in 2009, per Wikipedia, the suspension forced a positional change. On the Bussin’ with the Boys podcast in 2023, Travis explained, “What [the suspension] did was it really kicked me into the tight end room. 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.’” The shift to tight end unlocked his potential, leading to a breakout 2014 season with 862 yards and 5 touchdowns, per ESPN, and eventually All-Pro honors, including four straight First-Team selections from 2016-2019, per NFL.com.
On New Heights, Travis addressed the evolving perception of marijuana in the NFL, noting that the stigma has lessened since 2013. The league relaxed its marijuana policy in 2020, reducing penalties and raising the THC threshold for positive tests, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. Travis suggested a bold gesture for players who overcome similar “character concerns,” saying, “I just want everybody that drops in the draft for whatever character concerns, if it ever pans out, they should just do that exact same character concern… You should have just walked into signing your second deal with a blunt in your hand smoking it as a sign of the paper.” He clarified, “I’m not condoning smoking weed, but unless you sign a multimillion-year deal you wanna say ‘f— you’ to all the people that doubted you because you did smoke weed.”
Travis’ resilience has defined his career. After the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIX loss to the Eagles in February 2025, where Jason’s former team won 31-24, per NFL.com, Travis confirmed he’ll return for another season in 2025, dispelling retirement rumors, per People.com. The Kelce brothers made history in Super Bowl LVII in 2023 as the first siblings to face off in a Super Bowl, with Travis’ Chiefs defeating Jason’s Eagles 38-35, per ESPN. Now, with Jason retired and working as an ESPN analyst, Travis continues to build his legacy, having recorded 907 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2024, per Pro Football Reference. His recent comments on a Las Vegas trip, where he said, “It’s kinda where I feel at home,” per People.com, reflect his off-field charisma, but it’s his on-field excellence—born from overcoming early doubts—that cements him as an NFL icon.
