Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift smiling after the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in January 2025

Travis Kelce could help the Kansas City Chiefs make Super Bowl history on Sunday.

He and the Chiefs are aiming to clinch an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat in New Orleans – and a fourth Super Bowl win in six years.

Yet his life could have been very different because of a previous trip to the Big Easy 15 years ago.

That night nearly put an end to his football career before it even began.

He would not have become an NFL player, let alone the sport’s biggest name. And he almost certainly would not be dating the world’s biggest music star, Taylor Swift.

New Orleans night out changes Kelce’s course

Kelce was 20 and coming to the end of his first year playing at the University of Cincinnati when the Bearcats were invited to play in the Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, in January 2010.

It was an exhibition rather than a championship game so Kelce and his team-mates had time to unwind beforehand at the Superdome, which will host Super Bowl 59.

If you spend any time in the French Quarter, it is easy to get carried along with the party atmosphere – and the Bearcats certainly had a good time. Perhaps too good.

They were beaten 51-24 by Florida, with Kelce having just one carry. Worse was to follow when it emerged Kelce had failed a drugs test, testing positive for marijuana.

Competition rules meant Kelce had to serve a one-year suspension, but his older brother Jason Kelce, who was also on the team, convinced the coaches to give him another chance.

Kelce converted from a part-time quarterback to a full-time tight end, before entering the NFL draft in 2013.

Some character concerns remained and he was selected later than he had hoped – 63rd overall by the Chiefs, who had just appointed Andy Reid as their new head coach.

Reid already knew Jason, having drafted him two years earlier while coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, and he told him: “You’re vouching for this guy.”

Swift rules out Bourbon Street return

Travis Kelce celebrating with Cincinnati team-mates in December 2012Getty Images

Travis Kelce redeemed himself with Cincinnati, finishing his college career on a high

Kelce proved his brother was right to have backed him. He has transformed the tight end position and, since Kansas City drafted Patrick Mahomes in 2017, has formed a telepathic understanding with the superstar quarterback that has led the Chiefs to five Super Bowls in six years.

One of those was the first Super Bowl to feature brothers on opposing teams, with Kansas City facing Philly two years ago. Before that game, Travis said: “I owe it all to him [Jason].”

Travis said he was “embarrassed” by his suspension, but added it made him realise who was in his corner and that he had to “tighten up” in order to pursue a football career.

And Swift has warned him to behave himself when he returns to New Orleans. When the Chiefs beat Buffalo to book their Super Bowl spot and Kelce said: “Take me back, I owe New Orleans a little something,” she retorted: “Yeah, you’re not going to Bourbon Street.”

Divided loyalties for Kelce and Swift families

Jason and Swift will both be at Sunday’s game, but they will have divided loyalties.

Although Jason supported Kansas City as they beat San Francisco in last year’s Super Bowl, he’s made clear he won’t be doing the same this weekend.

Not only are the Chiefs facing his former team, but his wife Kylie is a diehard Eagles fan.

As for Swift, her father Scott grew up as an Eagles fan in Pennsylvania, so Kelce is not sure who he will be rooting for.

“I’ll have to ask Scott himself,” he said at Opening Night on Monday. “We haven’t had that conversation yet, but I think he’ll be wearing red.”

Kelce coy over potential proposal

Kelce and Swift’s relationship became public knowledge when she attended her first Chiefs game in September 2023.

Since then, their careers have gone from strength to strength, with Swift embarking on the highest-grossing tour of all time and taking her status to another level.

“I better hold up my end of the bargain,” Kelce added on Monday.

“She’s up there being the superstar that she is, never taking no for an answer and always working her tail off. I better match that energy for sure.”

If he does – and wins a fourth Super Bowl ring – there has been speculation he might retire, but the 35-year-old said he hopes to still be playing in three years’ time.

Kelce was also asked whether he would make some new memories in New Orleans by pulling out a different type of ring this weekend – an engagement ring.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he said with a smile.