Kansas City Chiefs mandatory minicamp runs from Tuesday to Thursday, the first offseason activities all players are required to attend before training camp.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is cutting it close to get back to Kansas City in time for camp on Tuesday.
After appearing with his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, at Game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final near their offseason base in Florida, Kelce jetted off to France for an Amazon event on Monday where he spoke alongside his brother, Jason Kelce, about their podcast "New Heights."
He was left with enough time to make it back to the United States on Tuesday, but fans picked up on the fact that Kelce's globetrotting activities lasted long enough for him to miss a key event in every NFL team's offseason: media day.
Taylor Swift and Chiefs TE Travis Kelce are in attendance during the game between the Oilers and the Panthers.
Taylor Swift and Chiefs TE Travis Kelce are in attendance during the game between the Oilers and the Panthers.
© Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
"Us old dudes are so over this (expletive),” the Chiefs star admitted to his brother on an episode of "New Heights" in March 2024.
They explained the downsides of media day, which requires to dress up in full gameday equipment to stage photos and videos for use by team social media accounts and NFL television broadcast partners.
Fans were aware of the Kelces' disdain for the staged production day. Many theorized that the 35-year-old tight end did not mind missing the event on Monday, which included shots of Patrick Mahomes and Xavier Worthy, among others.
"Starting a rumor Travis went to France just to miss media day," joked a fan account, replying to the team's post announcing media day on Monday afternoon.
"We know how he feels about picture day!" responded an X user.
"He hates media day so YEEEES!!!" added another.
"He finally found the perfect excuse," commented a fan.
"He probably said to himself I’m a veteran and I don’t need to do media day and let them use last year‘s photos," wrote one response.
Jason confirmed in the aforementioned podcast clip that he skipped several Philadelphia Eagles media days and forced them to use the same pictures for multiple seasons.
Other athletes have found creative ways to make the most of media days. NBA star Jimmy Butler has been known to show up with outrageous hairstyles so that broadcasts have to show the dramatic photos all season.