KANSAS CITY, Mo. — So the "E" is silent, huh? That's what Kansas Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said about the pronunciation of his last name.
In a Nov. 2020 interview with Barstool podcast, “Bussin’ with the Boys," Kelce said his surname is pronounced “Kels” as opposed to “Kel-see.”
A clip of the podcast surfaced on Twitter Wednesday, leaving the fans and Chiefs players shocked.
Kelce tweeted that one pronunciation was correct, the other he uses as a nickname — not specifying which was which.
You learn something new everyday @tkelce 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/82nganHGsp
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) July 14, 2021
😂😂😂 you’ve been sayin it right man, I go by both…. One’s my real name and one’s a nick name
— Travis Kelce (@tkelce) July 14, 2021
Not trippin at all… you can actually keep calling me that 😂😂
— Travis Kelce (@tkelce) July 14, 2021
In official media releases sent out by the Chiefs, the correct way to say the tight end's name is "KEL-see."
41 Action News Chiefs insider Pete Sweeney, Editor-in-Chief of Arrowhead Pride, did some digging — finding the 2007 University of Cincinnati pronunciation guide with Travis' brother, Jason Kelce.
The wild Kel-see/Kelse mixup roots back to 2007. Here is the University of Cincinnati pronunciation guide from that season, when a walk-on named Jason Kelce saw action in nine games along the offensive line in his redshirt freshman season. pic.twitter.com/hKaZWW2lfm
— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) July 14, 2021
Kelce earned 1,416 yards receiving and recorded 11 touchdowns in the 2020 regular season.
