Paparazzi snapped photos of Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce lighting up in his vintage 1970 Chevelle convertible last Friday and the internet is in an uproar. Nobody knows what he was smoking, but ultimately who cares. When are we going to stop this type of handwringing and desperation for content?
Travis Kelce Has Become The Most Popular Player In The League
Kelce has become the most popular player in the NFL over the past several weeks as he has begun a relationship with international pop superstar Taylor Swift. Every move Kelce makes is now dissected and scrutinized through the lens of being Swift’s boyfriend.
Some are speculating that Kelce was smoking weed. But nobody knows for sure. But even if it was weed, so what? Marijuana is legal in Missouri and Kelce is an adult over the age of 21.
Lots Of Players Use Marijuana
Kelce has made comments about marijuana before, so this picture has grabbed people’s attention. In an interview with Vanity Fair in June, he estimated about “50-80%” of players in the NFL use marijuana.
“If you just stop in the middle of July, you’re fine,” he told Vanity Fair. “A lot of guys stop a week before and they still pass because everybody’s working out in the heat and sweating their tail off. Nobody’s really getting hit for it anymore.”
In college at Cincinnati Kelce was suspended for a year in 2010 for testing positive for marijuana. So he does have a history. But again, marijuana is not an illicit drug in 2023.
Given the violent nature of football, Kelce is probably right in the amount of players that smoke weed. It has medicinal benefits when it comes to pain management. Also, many players likely suffer from undiagnosed social anxiety, and marijuana helps deal with that condition.
This doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and is just something to fill the airspace until the next game.
On the field Kelce has 27 receptions for 222 yards and three touchdowns so far this season. He injured his ankle last Sunday, but continued to play in the game against the Minnesota Vikings and is questionable for Thursday night against the Denver Broncos.
“He’s done well,” head coach Andy Reid said Tuesday when asked how Kelce had responded. “He’s got quite a little bit of treatment on it, so he’s feeling a little bit better, which is good. I’m going to just see how he moves around, how he feels. He’s always been honest with me on things like that, so we’ll just see how he does.”
It’s the NFL. If Kelce can’t go it will be the next man up for the Chiefs, who are 4-1 and atop the AFC West.
