Chiefs Remember Much Different Travis Kelce at Dawn of Career

One detail that came out Wednesday that directly affects the wedding was Kansas City’s June calendar. Just before his June 13 nuptials with the most prominent woman on Earth, the Chiefs will conduct their mandatory minicamp from June 9-11.

Talk about a tight window.

The future Hall of Famer might need to skip the last half of that minicamp for a rehearsal dinner, and to ease any of his bride’s pre-wedding concerns. Meanwhile, Veach, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and anyone else Kelce has secretly invited will be hot on Kelce’s contrail.

Why he's earned excused absence

If any player on the Chiefs’ roster has earned an excused absence, it’s Kelce. He’s the longest-tenured player on the team, the second individual selected in Reid’s first draft as Kansas City head coach in 2013 (the Chiefs chose tackle Eric Fisher No. 1 overall that year). Kelce’s also the NFL’s all-time leading postseason pass-catcher.

Veach told Schrager he was amazed at where Kelce is today compared to where he was in 2013, when the Chiefs selected him at the top of the third round (No. 63 overall).

“Travis Kelce was a character concern, if you remember, coming out,” Veach told Schrager. “He was a guy that was a tremendous blocker and had a ton of upside, but the love and dedication to the game, what he's going to be doing off the field …”

Now, after watching how well Kelce handled the first losing season of his NFL career in 2025, his love for the game was unquestioned. Veach and Reid are proud of the tight end’s journey. Their faith in the Chiefs’ locker room was key, too.

“The culture and the support you have in the building does make a difference,” Veach said. “And if you put guys that are young and maybe have made some dumb decisions, if you put them in an adult environment with a good culture, you can get the best out of them.”

Rashee Rice didn’t come up in Schrager’s interview but – at least early in his NFL career – the young wide receiver would seem to be a player Kelce could positively influence. And if Kelce can help Rice avoid any further off-field distractions, the Chiefs would be grateful he opted to return for Year 14.

“Now it's gone full circle with Travis,” Veach said, “where he's teaching us more than we ever taught him, if that makes sense. So, here you have a guy that starts out as a character concern, you bring him in the organization and he has his Hall of Fame career, first-ballot Hall of Fame career.

“And he's now teaching us on how to handle adversity and how to be uplifting. And I think that's the coolest thing. Full circle.”