Before he became one of the best tight ends in NFL history, Travis Kelce was just a baby-faced graduate of the University of Cincinnati.
To celebrate the 2025 NFL Draft Combine, which kicks off Thursday, February 27, in Indianapolis, the Kansas City Chiefs shared a throwback photo via Instagram of Kelce, now 35, from his combine event in 2013. Kelce was 23 years old at the time, eager to impress NFL scouts before the draft.
“Grown up and glowed up! #NFLCombine,” the Chiefs captioned the post, which also shared side-by-side photos of Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, Drue Tranquill and more team members from their respective combines.
Coming off three seasons with the Cincinnati Bearcats — Kelce was suspended from playing in the 2010 season after testing positive for marijuana — the Chiefs selected him in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft, 63rd overall.
See Travis Kelce’s Transformation Since Joining the Kansas City Chiefs
Before Kelce’s rookie year, the Chiefs hired Andy Reid as the team’s new head coach. Reid, 66, detailed Travis’ draft process during a May 2023 appearance on the “New Heights” podcast, which the football star cohosts with his older brother, Jason Kelce.
“I saw [Travis] play against Temple and my son kept telling me, ‘This tight end is unbelievable. [Jason] Kelce’s brother is incredible. He’s 265 pounds. He’s a beast,” Reid said. “Then I get him and he’s 240, but that’s OK.”
Reid, who has coached Kelce every season of his 12-year NFL career, recalled meeting his soon-to-be-superstar for the first time.
“Game’s over, they just destroyed Temple,” Reid said. “I come over to the locker room. He comes be-boppin’ out and just giving me the business like we’re long lost friends. Deep down I’m going, ‘If I get my hands on that son of a buck, I am going to rip his heart out.’”
Reid continued, “But I played along with it. Cocky, cocky. Dammit, he was cocky.’”
The coach explained he was confident in Travis’ “roots” after having drafted Jason in 2011 when Reid was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
“The first five years, it was a war,” Reid said of coaching Travis. “The last five years have been unbelievable.”
When Will Travis Kelce Retire? What He’s Said About a Possible NFL Exit
Travis has until March 14 to inform the Chiefs whether he intends to retire or play next season with the team, according to a report earlier this month by The Athletic.
“I know everybody wants to know whether or not I’m playing next year and right now I’m just kicking everything down the road,” Travis said on the February 12 episode of “New Heights,” days after the Chiefs’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. “I’m not making any crazy decisions but right now the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding that a lot that goes into this thing.”
He continued, “You know, I’ve been fortunate over the past five, six years — I’ve played more football than anybody. And it’s because the people that are in that building and the fact that we keep going to these AFC Championships and these Super Bowls, that means I’m playing an extra three games more than everybody else in the entire league. That’s a lot of wear and tear on your body and it’s a lot of time spent in the building focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand … and that process can be grueling. It can weigh on you.”
