Where is Travis Kelce from?

Nowadays it feels like you can’t go more than five minutes without hearing about Travis Kelce. Whilst his high-profile relationship with Taylor Swift can account for an increase in relevance lately, let’s not forget that he was already a really big deal before all of that. But what was the NFL star’s life like before his name was on everybody’s lips? Before he joined the Kansas City Chiefs? Where is he from?

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end came from humble beginnings. Born on Oct. 5, 1989, in Westlake Ohio roughly 700 miles from where he’d end up, Kelce was the son of steel industry sales representative Ed Kelce and former bank executive Donna Kelce. He’s also the younger brother of Jason Kelce who plays center for the Philadelphia Eagles. From an early age, Travis and his brother had always been competitive, revealing to Page Six that he and Jason almost got kicked out of pre-school thanks to a heated game of checkers.

As a teen, Travis attended Cleveland Heights High School and he excelled in football (duh). From there he was granted a scholarship at the University of Cincinnati; whilst he definitely had some ups and downs during his time there (including being suspended at one point) he continued to dominate at his chosen sport. After college he was pretty much drafted straight into the Kansas City Chiefs and the rest, as they say, is history.

With his incredibly successful, pop icon girlfriend and a $2.5 million mansion in L.A., it’s easy to see that Travis has come a long way from where he began. Despite no longer being together, his parents still support their son and serve as a brilliant reminder of where he started.