Travis Kelce breaks his silence on NFL Man of the Year nod – and how being a 'knucklehead' fueled his charity work

Travis Kelce has paid tribute to the ‘unbelievable’ kids in Kansas City and opened up on his charity work after being nominated for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

Kelce is a pillar of the community – alongside his high-profile football career and relationship with Taylor Swift – and was honored last week by being listed in the nominees for this year’s award. 

Speaking out for the first time on his New Heights podcast with brother Jason, Travis revealed how happy he was to be acknowledged – but insisted he ‘doesn’t do it for the awards… I do it for the smiles on the kids’ faces.’

‘It’s a huge award,’ he said. ‘I love getting out here in the Kansas City community man, I really do. They show up for each other so much and with so much pride. 

‘I’ve just been so lucky that I came here to Kansas City and got the opportunity from the Hunt family. I realized real early on that how they run the organization is that they wanted everyone in the community making sure that the people in Kansas City feel the support that we feel on Sundays. 

‘And the one thing you see when you first walk in that building is all the winners of Man of the Year in terms of how much history Kansas City players have in this community and everyone getting acknowledged for that. 

Travis (right) opened up on his Man of the Year nomination on his podcast with brother Jason

Kelce explained more about the incredible work the kids do at Ignition Lab in the city

‘I don’t do it for the awards and the acknowledgements, I do it for the smiles on the kids’ faces at the Ignition Lab and at Operation Breakthrough. It’s so cool to see what they’ve done with what they have to work with over there. 

‘The program, when I arrived at Kansas City, stopped in eighth grade, and I really wanted to keep that going through the high school years. I know how much of a knucklehead I was… and not having anywhere to go or a safe haven, I don’t know where the heck I would have been.’

Travis traveled to Sunday’s Kansas City game in an all-electric Chevelle that had been converted by the kids at his Ignition Lab project.

‘I think it’s awesome,’ Jason said, adding that they had also converted his own truck in a similar way.  

The Chiefs superstar turned up to Sunday’s game in an all-electric Chevelle

Kelce has shot to further fame in the last year amid his relationship with popstar Taylor Swift

Kelce says he was a ‘knucklehead’, and knows how important programs like ‘Ignition Lab’ are

‘One of the things we got to see [on Sunday] was that fully-electric Chevelle. How did that feel? It’s pretty gnarly, it’s cool as s***.’

‘That thing is fun, it’s cool,’ Travis replied, adding: ‘A big guy like me, it’s tough to get into those old cars if you don’t pull the seats back, but man that thing is sweet. 

‘Those old-school cars are so frickin’ cool, I think I’ve got a ’71 Chevelle that some people may have seen me drive before, but this thing was one-of-a-kind. The kids did an unbelievable job, it was a smooth ride into the stadium.’