Travis Kelce loved introducing himself as ‘Charles’ when he was a child.
Jason Kelce revealed that his brother told the “entire block” that his name was Charles, on ESPN’s Postseason NFL Countdown before the game between Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans on Saturday, January 18th.
“He was the crazy guy; I think we both were pretty reckless whenever the snow was falling in Cleveland. He also told the entire block his name was Charles,” said the former Philadelphia Eagles centre.
Explaining Travis’ choice of name, Jason added, “His favorite basketball player was Charles Barkley.”
The Kelce family hilariously found out about the Chiefs tight end’s made up name at a party with neighbours.
“We found out at a block party because all the other parents were like, ‘There goes Charles.’ That’s the kind of kid Travis was. He was always living up to all of his sports idols, for sure.”
The former NBA star Charles Barkley previously appeared on Travis and Jason’s New Heights podcast, where he explained that he has always loved the name ‘Travis,’ because of an older boy he idealised.
“He was great from, like, junior high,” Barkley shared on an episode in August 2023.
“So everybody loved Travis. But I was named after my grandfather. When I started getting better at basketball, I said, ‘Mom, what do we think about me changing my name to Travis?’ She says, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ … She says, ‘That’s your grandfather’s name.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, and he’s a nobody!’”
