Travis Kelce, a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs, and his brother, former Philadelphia Eagles center and Super Bowl champion Jason Kelce, have been hosting the New Heights for parts of the last four years. The show, which launched with Wave Sports + Entertainment, has become a hit among listeners and won several awards among other podcasts. Last August, the Kelce brothers signed an exclusive distribution and advertising sales deal with Amazon’s Wondery that reportedly spans three years and is worth more than $100 million.
During a recent interview on The Stephen A. Smith Show, Travis Kelce was asked about the impetus for starting the podcast and the impact that he and his brother are having outside the world of football. As Kelce prepares to try and help the Chiefs become the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships, he has not lost sight of the growth of the podcast and has enjoyed having conversations with his brother. Kelce records the podcast on a weekly basis and discusses a range of topics, including football, pop culture and family life.
“I think that’s been the goal for a lot of football players in this league is to set yourself up because we know this game, it isn’t forever, and you got to be able to set yourself for what happens after football,” Kelce said. “And me and Jason, to be honest, we missed each other. We hadn’t had those conversations every single week, and now we have two hours set aside every single week to talk football, catch up on things and just be brothers.”
Kelce expressed that people did not realize how close he and Jason were before the podcast began, and he believes people can see the similarities when they hear them talking as if they are at the dinner table. Having followed his brother throughout his entire life, Kelce wanted to exhibit the bond they have and the support for one another. In fact, Kelce enjoys talking about his upbringing and how he worked to become a professional athlete.
“I think having ex-players come on, having the stars of my childhood and Jason’s childhood come on and talk about what made them great and just the stories of what they went through,” Kecle said. “I think that’s the funnest part is just being able to just talk to Jason about our childhood and tell the fun stories about being in the Kelce household, as well as the things that we loved to do as kids and now as adults.”
Smith surmised that the podcast is not going away as the audience grows and was curious about how Kelce will approach being critical of people out there when they are not doing their jobs. Coming from the perspective of two Super Bowl champions, he asked whether or not they are prepared to deal with what comes with giving criticism. In reply, Kelce highlighted that having that ability is what makes people like Smith good in their roles and identified it as a talent unto itself.
“Me personally, I like to shine light on everybody and everything,” Kelce said. “I don’t really like to take too many shots at people unless I’ve been truly disrespected, so it has been a bit of a challenge being able to call things out and be confident and try and be critical without chopping somebody down, but it’s definitely something that I’m working on for sure.”
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