Chiefs TE Travis Kelce reveals he worked out for Tennessee as a recruit and explains why he didn’t receive an offer from the Vols

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce reveals he worked out for Tennessee as a recruit and explains why he didn’t receive an offer from the Vols

Kansas city chief tight end Travis Kelce told Peyton Manning this week that he worked out for the Tennesse as a high school recruit during the Phillip Fulmer era nearly 20 years ago, but he never received an offer from UT.

Now, this might sound like a missed opportunity by Tennessee considering Kelce will likely be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day, but there’s a good reason why he didn’t receive an offer from the Volunteers.

At the time, Kelce fancied himself a quarterback. And, well, obviously he wasn’t a quarterback.

According to Kelce, former Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe worked him out at one point.

“I was actually recruited at Tennessee,” said Kelce to Peyton on New Heights “David Cutcliffe was working me out and thought I had some potential to be a football player, not a quarterback. So Tennessee never offered me.”

Kelce ended up signing with the Cincinnati Bearcats as a quarterback, but he was moved to tight end by then head coach Brian Kelly.

Oddly enough, Kelce ended up playing for Butch Jones during his final three seasons at Cincinnati (Jones left Cincy after Kelce’s final season to become the head coach at Tennessee).

Jones actually suspended Kelce for the 2010 season due to a failed drug test ( in New Orleans, the site of Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, before the 2009 Sugar Bowl).

“Long story short, he had failed multiple drug tests,”  2023. “Just made bad decisions. And I was at a basketball game with my wife and my kids and I didn’t like who he was hanging with and what was going on. So I called him in and I called Jason (Kelce) and told him he was done. Suspended. He was done with our football program and he needed to move on.”

Kelce was reinstated to the team in 2011 and the rest is history.