Travis Kelce ‘had a lot of immaturities’ in his early years with the Kansas City Chiefs, his former mentor reveals, but the ‘perfectionist’ tight end has become a ‘pro’

Retired NFL wide receiver Jason Avant revealed that he was assigned by the Kansas City Chiefs to mentor a young Travis Kelce as he struggled mightily with immaturity in his early years.

Although Kelce has now blossomed into a standout on and off the field, Avant talked about how he had to overcome and outgrow a lot of old habits to get to this point. According to Avant, the struggles were remnants of Kelce’s collegiate years in Cincinnati.

“Travis Kelce got suspended and kicked off the team for immature stuff, weed and stuff like that. Just being young, really,” Avant said Action networkvia the Daily star. “He quit after he joined the Chiefs but now it’s legal so it doesn’t matter now whether he quit or not.”

While admitting that the accidents were a byproduct of his age, Avant also credited Kelce’s perfectionism and desire to become a professional.

“Travis became a professional and realized he had to take this seriously and he has been doing so ever since,” he added.

Avant revealed that Kelce was suspended and kicked out of teams because of his cannabis use

By the time Kelce was drafted by the Chiefs, he showed a desire to grow and become a professional

“Travis Kelce is a perfectionist,” Avant added. “I remember coach Andy Reid taking me there to help Kelce develop into a professional because he had a lot of immaturities in college. He had a lot of problems and it was my job to help.”

Although he was hired to help the young tight end stay out of trouble, Avant’s mentorship led to a healthy relationship with Kelce as his stardom grew with the Chiefs’ success.

Avant talked about how losing the 2019 AFC Championship Game to the Patriots in Kansas City became crucial to Kelce’s character development.

“He took that professional approach because I wasn’t an ultra-talented guy, but I stayed after practicing my catches,” he said. ‘People asked me: how do you catch the ball so often?

“Then we had a playoff game and they all froze because they had never been to that moment before, and the coach realized I was the only person he could trust in this situation. We only lost to the Patriots by a very narrow margin, but he came to me and said, ‘Now I understand why Coach Reid had you here, and that’s practice.”’

Two Super Bowl titles later, Kelce’s spotlight became even brighter when he started dating pop star Taylor Swift in 2023.

Despite having to deal with the weight of the NFL’s and Swift’s massive fan bases at the same time, Kelce has remained competitive even when he’s struggled on the field.

During Kansas City’s playoff game against the Buffalo Bills, Kelce broke a seven-game scoring drought with two crucial touchdowns to help them earn a 27–24 victory. In doing so, he and Patrick Mahomes became the highest-scoring quarterback-receiver duo in playoff history with 16 touchdowns.

Kelce’s spotlight expanded after winning two titles and dating pop star Taylor Swift in 2023

Kelce scored two touchdowns in a 27-24 win against Buffalo to advance to the AFC title game

Kelce and the Chiefs will take on the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens for a spot in the Super Bowl

The win set Kansas City up against the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC crown on Sunday as they look for back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

After seeing what turned out to be an already successful career, Avant couldn’t be happier that Kelce didn’t take the wrong path like others before him.

“I’m not alone when it comes to mentorship,” Avant said. “They have to have the ability to want to do it. I told some other guys about it, but they went down the wrong path.

“It’s not that I did anything, it’s more that some guys see it. You just have to convince them that they have talent and that they can have a better future on this path than on the other path.’