The time Travis Kelce almost became a New York Jet

Travis Kelce is a Kansas City Chiefs legend. But according to the great man himself, his career could have played out very, very differently before it even started.

For Kansas City Chiefs fans, it is hard to imagine Travis Kelce being anything other than their superstar tight end. But on the latest episode of his New Heights podcast, Kelce revealed that his career could have taken a very different trajectory. He could have become a New York Jet.

Chatting with his brother Jason Kelce and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Kelce revealed that he thought he was going to be drafted by the Jets.

“I thought I was going to be the first tight end taken off the board, I ended up being the fifth,” Kelce said. “The Jets were sold on me. I had a great interview with Rex Ryan, he said it is between you and Geno [Smith] – if Geno is available, we are going to take him, and they ended up taking Geno.”

Looking back, it was a decision Kelce is very happy about.

“Thank goodness,” he said.

“Andy Reid, I had no idea I was even on his board.

“He asked me straight to the point, are you gonna f*** this up, man? And I was like, no I’m not, I’m going to be the best tight end you have ever coached.”

As things turned out, Kelce became just that.

Since joining the Chiefs in 2013, we have seen Kelce transform from a raw, temperamental young player to one of the best tight ends to ever play the game. Kelce has broken record after record for tight ends, revolutionized the way the position is played, and he helped K.C. to a drought-breaking Super Bowl victory.

A fan favorite, he is one of the most iconic and well-loved players in Chief history, and he is all but guaranteed to one day walk into the NFL Hall of Fame.

But imagine how different things could have been if the Jets had opted to draft Kelce instead and he had never ended up in Kansas City. It is a wild thought.

The Jets drafted Smith in the second round of the 2013 draft with the 39th pick overall, with Kelce taken 24 picks later at 69th overall with K.C.’s second pick of the draft. Since that fateful day, Kelce has become an almost unstoppable force one that the Jets sorely would have loved to have.

Since 2013, Kelce has more than twice as many receiving yards on his own (9,665) than all of New York’s TEs combined (4,210). Chris Herndon has the most yards by a TE for a Jet in that timeframe with 502 in 2018, which would be Kelce’s lowest season total by more than 300 yards. On top of that, Herndon’s mark is 157 receiving yards less than what Kelce already has so far this season.

Of course, it is unlikely that Kelce would have enjoyed the same success as he has had during his career if he had been in New York The Jets are a very different team with a very different coach and system, and to put it kindly, much less overall talent on the roster.

But at the same time, it is even wilder to imagine just how different Chiefs’ history would have been had they not drafted Kelce.

Four other TEs were taken before Kelce in the 2013 draft—Tyler Eifert, Zach Ertz, Gavin Escobar, and Vance McDonald—while Jordan Reed was the next TE off the board after him, While some have certainly had more than serviceable NFL careers, none have been anywhere near the level of Kelce.

It was a real sliding doors moment for the entire Chiefs franchise. Who knows what kind of production K.C. would have received from any of those other guys? Kelce has been K.C.’s best, most important player not named Patrick Mahomes over the last decade. And you could make a very strong argument that maybe the Chiefs would not have won the Super Bowl without him—that’s how important of a role he has played.

So on behalf of all of Chiefs Kingdom, thank you Rex Ryan and the New York Jets for deciding not to draft Travis Kelce.

Thank you for helping him get to Kansas City to become one of the greatest tight ends football has ever seen.

Thank you so very, very much.