Musical artist Machine Gun Kelly wants tight end Travis Kelce to leave the Kansas City Chiefs for the Cleveland Browns. At least, that’s what Kelly, whose real name is Colson Baker, said on Kelce’s podcast this week.
“I will give you $500,000 cash upon arrival just for shopping or whatever you want as well as matching that same amount as a donation to both of our high schools, both Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights,” Kelly said, “as well as everyday breakfast and coffee delivery from my restaurant if you would just come home and put on these colors right here.”
Kelly then pointed to a Cleveland Browns jacket as Kelce and his brother/co-host, Jason Kelce, burst into laughter.
While Kelce obviously declined the offer, he did mention how he originally wanted to play for the Browns before he was drafted.
“You know that was the original dream,” Kelce said. “You know that was the dream. … That is an intriguing offer. But I’m not gonna lie – the situation is pretty good in Kansas City.”
Kelce then went on describe how he “cried” in front of former Cleveland coach Rob Chudzinski in his office during his pre-draft process in 2013 because of how badly he wanted to play for his hometown Browns. Kelce grew up about 20-minutes away from Cleveland Browns Stadium in nearby Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and went to school at Cincinnati before the Chiefs drafted him in the third round of the 2013 draft.
“I don’t think I’ll ever play anywhere else,” Kelce concluded,” but Cleveland was always the dream growing up, that’s for damn sure. Being a sports fan in Cleveland – you can’t not dream about not playing for all three of the Cleveland sports teams, let alone the Browns.”
Who did Cleveland draft instead? The Browns took defensive end Barkevious Mingo with the No. 6 overall pick and didn’t have a second-round pick after they took wide receiver Josh Gordon in the 2012 supplemental draft. Cleveland then took cornerback Leon McFadden five picks after the Chiefs took Kelce in the third round.
As Kelce explicitly stated multiple times in the episode: He isn’t leaving Kansas City. Not only does he have two years left on his contract but he’s also in arguably the best system for his skillset. Kelce is quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ No. 1 target and continues to climb up the tight end record books with every game he plays.
But, at the very least, Kelce still yearns for what could have been in his hometown.
