Chiefs rookie Izaiah Gathings has lifted the lid on how Travis Kelce made him feel welcome in Kansas City over lunch after practice one day.
The 23-year-old was not selected in the 2023 NFL draft but the tight end signed a deal with the reigning Super Bowl champions on July 30.
On one of his first days in Kansas City, Gathings sat down to eat lunch by himself. ‘I really don’t know anybody on the team,’ he said.
But it was Kelce – whose relationship with Taylor Swift has made him the NFL’s most high-profile player – who went out of his way to befriend his fellow tight end.
‘At that moment right there with my boy Trav, I realized: Bro is just a regular cool a** dude, bro. Funny as hell, fun to be around. Bro is cool as hell,’ Gathings said.
Travis Kelce made Chiefs rookie Izaiah Gathings feel welcome in Kansas City over lunch
‘At that moment right there… I realized: Bro is just a regular cool a** dude, bro,’ Gathings said
Gathings said: ‘(There were) already people from the team in the lunch room when I get in there but I don’t know nobody so I go sit at the table by myself.
‘I’m eating my food, I’m minding my own business, I’m on my phone. And I see two plates of food slap down beside me out of the corner of my eye.’
His first thought was: ‘Who is this sitting beside me, like what the hell?’
‘All of a sudden whoever it was said: “Yo, what’s up with you, my boy? You straight (good)?'” Gathings continued. ‘Fool, it’s Travis Kelce. I look up from my phone. I see who it is. I’m like: “Hell, yeah, I’m straight. You good?”‘
The rookie tight end revealed he was stuttering when he first spoke to Kelce.
‘Just imagine you’re sitting there, eating your lunch, and all of a sudden Travis Kelce comes up beside you,’ Gathings continued. ‘And then proceeds to sit down and have a normal conversation with me?’