{"id":282548,"date":"2025-08-12T16:05:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T16:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/282548\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T16:05:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T16:05:13","slug":"emotional-travis-kelce-broke-down-in-tears-to-play-for-cleveland-browns-instead-of-chiefs-but-they-didnt-want-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/282548\/","title":{"rendered":"Emotional Travis Kelce broke down in tears to play for Cleveland Browns instead of Chiefs &#8211; but they didn&#8217;t want him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>TRAVIS Kelce was left in tears during a meeting with the Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/who\/travis-kelce\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kelce<\/a>, 35, is one of the best tight ends of his generation thanks to his stellar career with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/kansas-city-chiefs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kansas City Chiefs.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs tight end, looking dejected on the sidelines.\" height=\"695\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Reuters\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kansas-city-chiefs-tight-end-970677717.jpg\" data-caption=\"Travis Kelce revealed he broke down in tears during a meeting with the Cleveland Browns\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/kansas-city-chiefs-tight-end-970677717.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Travis Kelce revealed he broke down in tears during a meeting with the Cleveland BrownsCredit: Reuters<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Travis Kelce on the cover of British GQ.\" height=\"960\" width=\"769\" data-credit=\"PA\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ryan-mcginley-pa-wire-note-1015893656.jpg\" data-caption=\"The tight end spoke to GQ magazine and was on the September cover\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ryan-mcginley-pa-wire-note-1015893656.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>The tight end spoke to GQ magazine and was on the September coverCredit: PA<\/p>\n<p>But it could&#8217;ve been very different for the three-time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/super-bowl\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Super Bowl <\/a>champion.<\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gq.com\/story\/travis-kelce-september-cover-2025-interview-super-bowl-taylor-swift\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">interview with GQ<\/a>, he revealed his dream was to play for his hometown Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n<p>Kelce was born in Westlake, Ohio and went to Cleveland Heights High School.<\/p>\n<p>He attended Cincinnati in college across the state before turning pro.<\/p>\n<p>Before the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/nfl\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL <\/a>Draft in 2013, the tight end met with then Browns head coach Rob Chudzinksi.<\/p>\n<p>Kelce recalled, &#8220;I cried in Chud\u2019s office and said, &#8216;I will f***ing die for this city!'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I literally was in tears. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I said, &#8216;I\u2019m sorry I\u2019m getting emotional. I grew up down the street. I would f***ing do anything to play for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/cleveland-browns\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cleveland Browns.&#8217; <\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He looked at me like I was insane. I don\u2019t think he\u2019d ever had somebody just pour out their emotions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Kelce was selected in the third round by the Kansas City Chiefs and been there ever since.<\/p>\n<p>Travis Kelce flirts with Taylor Swift on New Heights podcast as music megastar makes major announcement <\/p>\n<p>He has gone on to smash NFL and franchise records and been named to the Pro Bowl 10 times.<\/p>\n<p>Kelce had seven straight seasons with 1000+ receiving yards among his many accolades.<\/p>\n<p>The 35-year-old has won three Super Bowls in the last five years.<\/p>\n<p>But he was part of the Chiefs team that was beaten by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/topic\/philadelphia-eagles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> in New Orleans, Louisiana in February.<\/p>\n<p>The tight end considered retirement this offseason.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Travis Kelce #87 catching a football.\" height=\"960\" width=\"708\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/travis-kelce-87-catches-pass-1014617260.jpg\" data-caption=\"Kelce says only a Super Bowl win will do for the Chiefs this season\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/travis-kelce-87-catches-pass-1014617260.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Kelce says only a Super Bowl win will do for the Chiefs this seasonCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>NFL WEEK 1 SCHEDULE<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content--intro\">(All times ET)<\/p>\n<p>Thur 4 Sept<br \/>8.20 pm &#8211; Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles<\/p>\n<p>Fri 5 Sept<br \/>8pm &#8211; Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers<\/p>\n<p>Sun 7 Sept<br \/>1pm &#8211; Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons<br \/>1pm &#8211; Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns<br \/>1pm &#8211; Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts<br \/>1pm &#8211; Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots<br \/>1pm &#8211; Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints<br \/>1pm &#8211; Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets<br \/>1pm &#8211; New York Giants at Washington Commanders<br \/>1pm &#8211; Carolina Panthers at Jacksonville Jaguars<br \/>4.05 pm &#8211; Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos<br \/>4.05 pm &#8211; San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks<br \/>4.25 pm &#8211; Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers<br \/>4.25 pm &#8211; Houston Texans at Los Angeles Rams<br \/>8.20 pm &#8211; Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills<\/p>\n<p>Mon 8 Sept<br \/>8.15 pm &#8211; Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears<\/p>\n<p>Last year was one of his worst in terms of production since he entered the league.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Win a Super Bowl is the only goal,&#8221; Kelce declared in the GQ interview. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It\u2019s the only goal. It\u2019s every goal.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it might have slipped a little bit because I did have a little bit more focus in trying to set myself up. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And opportunities came up where I was excited to venture into a new world of acting and being an entertainer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don\u2019t say this as \u2018I shouldn\u2019t have done it.\u2019 I\u2019m just saying that my work ethic is such that I have so much pride in how I do things that I never want the product to tail off, and I feel like these past two years haven\u2019t been to my standard.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just have such a motivation to show up this year for my guys.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TRAVIS Kelce was left in tears during a meeting with the Cleveland Browns. Kelce, 35, is one of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,2337,7,110,6,578,505,500],"class_list":{"0":"post-282548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-browns","9":"tag-cleveland","10":"tag-cleveland-browns","11":"tag-clevelandbrowns","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-section-sportamerican-football","16":"tag-super-bowl","17":"tag-travis-kelce"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}