Travis Kelce has become one of the NFL’s best tight ends during his time in Kansas City, and is a household name for NFL fans. However, we have all — and I mean all — apparently been saying his last name wrong for the entirety of his career, a revelation that just came to light this week.
Kelce says his last name is not pronounced “Kel-see” as everyone has said forever, but instead should be pronounced “Kels,” but he just “rolled with it” when everyone said “Kel-see.” If this information is blowing your mind, you are not alone, as Patrick Mahomes and others on the Chiefs are having an existential crisis over this entire situation.
You learn something new everyday @tkelce https://t.co/82nganHGsp
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) July 14, 2021
Bro he never corrected us once https://t.co/dukbRjSwev
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) July 14, 2021
Kells? Kelcey? Kelce?
Halare? Helare? Helaire?
Heel? Heal? Hill?
Harmen? Hartmen? Hardman?
This gone be tough— GLYDE (@Clydro_22) July 14, 2021
He apparently has said it the “correct” way before, as someone spotted in a video before the 2020 AFC title game.
Via YouTube, Travis Kelce’s pronounced it ‘the other way’ before. This was in the lead-up to the 2020 AFC Championship vs. Titans #Chiefs pic.twitter.com/G9mF3GMfLy
— Harold R. Kuntz (@HaroldRKuntz3) July 14, 2021
However, the Kel-see/Kels drama goes all the way back to his brother, Eagles center Jason, who was listed on the University of Cincinnati pronunciation guide under “Kel-see” back in 2007.
The wild Kel-see/Kelse mixup roots back to 2007. Here is the University of Cincinnati pronunciation guide from that season, when a walk-on named Jason Kelce saw action in nine games along the offensive line in his redshirt freshman season. pic.twitter.com/hKaZWW2lfm
— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) July 14, 2021
It is very possible that Travis is doing this just to mess with everyone, as that would be in line with his sense of humor, but it’s believable enough that the entire NFL world is trying to figure out if we’ve been butchering their last name for more than a decade.