CLEVELAND — Jeff Rotsky knows better than most that Travis Kelce’s rise to NFL stardom did not come easy.
The former Cleveland Heights and current Euclid High School football coach mentored Kelce through a difficult time in his life when he was suspended for a season and lost his scholarship at the University of Cincinnati, but since those trying times, Rotsky has seen improvement, on and off the field.
“Trav’s really grown up to be just a good young man,” Rotsky told 3News earlier this week.
“Trav is a great story because his world wasn’t perfect. Everybody knows his world wasn’t perfect. Trav went through some trying times at Cincinnati, but he came out of it on the right side.”
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Despite the issues at Cincinnati, Kelce was a third-round pick of the Chiefs in the 2013 NFL Draft, and has been a standout player ever since.
During 2019, Kelce had his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season, as he turned 136 targets into 97 receptions, 1,229 yards and five touchdowns. It was Kelce’s second-most yards in a single season in his NFL career.
In two postseason games this year, Kelce caught 10 passes for 134 yards and three touchdowns with all of those scores coming in Kansas City’s unprecedented comeback from a 24-point deficit against the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.
As proud as Rotsky is of Kelce for his football successes, it is that personal and professional development that he most enjoys seeing.
“He didn’t get defeated when he made a mistake,” Rotsky said. “He made himself better, and that’s the whole story. Not only did he make himself better. He gives back. He realized, ‘You know what? Stuff happens and kids are going to make mistakes.’
“Heck, we see adults making mistakes, but he’s learned from it and is giving it back now.”
Kelce not only gives fans in Kansas City and his hometown of Cleveland Heights reason to cheer on game days.
According to Rotsky, Kelce is a role model to those growing up in challenging circumstances and are looking for motivation to rise above their situations and strive for greatness.
“To our kids, I tell them, ‘Don’t let anybody put a dog-gone ceiling on you,’” Rotsky said. “Do you know what Travis’ best sport was growing up? Hockey. He was amazing. He was the only kid I ever knew that could’ve been Division I in baseball, basketball and football, but growing up, he and Jason were great hockey players.
“God gave him a lot, but then, he went to work at it, and he’s a student of the game. He’s a great teammate. You see how excited he gets when his teammates score. It’s a beautiful thing. I want these guys to understand that when you genuinely root for your teammates as much as you do for yourself, that’s when you’ve got a shot to be good, and I think that’s what Kansas City has.”