Travis Kelce’s Hollywood moment has finally arrived. It’s been a long time coming.
Kelce, 34, has won three Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, he’s also a regular on a Ryan Murphy series and the host of a new game show on Prime Video.
His managers started working to help the NFL star break into the zeitgeist before his famous girlfriend, Taylor Swift, even came into the picture.
According to the New York Times, Kelce’s business managers André and Aaron Eanes told the Kansas City Chiefs tight end in 2022 that he could become “as famous as the Rock.” It looks like their plan is right on schedule.
He’s not new to exploring projects outside of his sport by any means — he hosts a culture and sports podcast with his brother, Jason Kelce, called New Heights. He’s also been featured in commercials for major brands, starred in his own 2016 E! reality TV dating show, Catching Kelce, and hosted Saturday Night Live in 2023.
Jane Owen, a Hollywood PR expert, told Yahoo Entertainment that professional athletes’ careers usually have an extremely short lifespan.
“If I was on his team, I would be pushing him to capitalize on his current spotlight massively,” she said. “I believe he would be having his moment … no matter what. He has the trifecta of good looks, charisma and being at the top of his game.”
Though he’s been grinding away at attaining cultural relevance by being a talented and likable player on the best NFL team for a while, his relationship with Swift took things to the next level. Throughout the 2023-2024 football season, Kelce was everywhere.
Owen said it’s definitely not going to hurt Kelce’s career to be dating arguably the most famous person in the world right now. It seems like his goal has always been to break into the entertainment industry.
Toni Ferrara, a talent manager and publicist, told Yahoo Entertainment that a lot of athletes aspire to do so because they’re “born entertainers.”
“With huge fan bases and followers who can easily convert to eyes for TV shows and ticket sales, it’s a marketing dream,” Ferrara said. “I would say the biggest [athlete] success story post-NFL career would be Michael Strahan. Look at how he went from one of the best in the NFL to one of the most sought-after on-camera hosts.”
Hosting is definitely in Kelce’s playbook, but that’s not the only project he has in the works. Here’s a rundown on where fans can catch Kelce beyond the gridiron.
Grotesquerie
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What we know: The FX horror series follows a detective investigating a series of disturbing crimes that unsettle a small community. Kelce plays an orderly at the local hospital with a checkered past.
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His co-star, Niecy Nash-Betts, told Yahoo Entertainment she worked “very closely” with Kelce, stepping in as his “coach.” Raven Godwin and Courtney B. Vance also praised Kelce for the hard work he put into becoming an actor.
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Status: The first episode aired Sept. 25 on FX.
Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?
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What we know: Kelce hosts the game show, in which adult contestants must rely on a classroom full of celebrities to help them answer 11 questions pulled from an elementary school curriculum in an effort to win $100,000.
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It’s a spin-off of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? The original show was hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, and a different Nickelodeon spin-off was hosted by John Cena.
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Status: The first three episodes were released on Prime Video on Oct. 16. The rest of the 20-episode season airs weekly on Wednesdays.
Happy Gilmore 2
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What we know: Adam Sandler revealed during his Aug. 20 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that Kelce would appear in the sequel to the beloved golf comedy, which Sandler is co-writing.
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Kelce’s role has not been announced, but Sandler said that the football player is “a big, handsome guy” and “so funny.”
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Status: Filming on the Netflix sequel began in September, according to Sandler.
Loose Cannons
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What we know: Kelce is in talks to nab his first starring role in a movie as one of two “unhinged cops that are paired with one another as an effort to straighten them both out,” according to Variety.
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John Wick series director Chad Stahelski has signed on to direct the action-comedy film.
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Status: TBD
Updated, Oct. 16, 2024: This story was originally published on Aug. 21, 2024 and has been updated to include Kelce’s latest projects.
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