What happened to the BYU jersey that Travis Kelce wore during a ‘New Heights’ podcast?

LAS VEGAS — Back in early October, when the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift relationship was really starting to go viral and become a talking point in social media, NFL and entertainment circles, another smaller, yet BYU-related topic of conversation sparked around the star Kansas City Chiefs tight end.

Kelce runs a podcast called “New Heights” with his brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, and on their first episode of that month, the Chiefs star showed up wearing a BYU jersey.

There was a simple explanation: Travis Kelce lost a bet with some of his BYU friends in the Kansas City organization when the Cougars beat Cincinnati in BYU’s Big 12 home opener.

Both Kelce brothers played at Cincinnati in college.

During the podcast, Kelce said while he was walking around the Chiefs facility after the BYU-Cincinnati game, several people asked him about the jersey.

That included Kansas City coach Andy Reid, a former BYU player and grad assistant at the school.

“You’ll see it, big guy. I’ll wear it with pride,” Kelce said on the podcast. “Shoutout to BYU for getting the dub. Cincinnati, let’s go baby! C’mon! Let’s get back on the train, baby! UC!”

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The question is, where did that jersey end up after Kelce wore it on the podcast?

Thanks to some “investigative” reporting ahead of this year’s Super Bowl, there’s an answer.

The Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers in the 2024 Super Bowl on Sunday (4:30 p.m. MST, CBS) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, thrusting both teams into the national spotlight with a title on the line.

On Monday during Super Bowl Opening Night, I asked former BYU tight end Matt Bushman about the bet and the jersey.

Bushman, who is in his second season with the Chiefs as a practice squad member, has built a strong relationship with Kelce.

“Porter Ellett, our coach who’s also a BYU alum, he kind of was the first one who kind of put that bet into Travis’ ear. (Travis) was like, ‘Hey Bushman, you want to be in on this? If you lose a bet, you gotta come to Vegas with me.’ So we’re like, ‘Oh, shoot. What is that? What does that entail?’ But now we’re here,” Bushman said.

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Then he dropped the first detail on where that jersey might be.

“I think the jersey ended up in Porter’s wife’s hands,” Bushman said. “I think Travis signed it and ended up gifting it to them, just as a little extra thing to the bet, I’m sure Porter and his wife are appreciative.”

Fast-forward to Thursday, and I tracked down Ellett, the Loa, Utah, native who is in his seventh season with the Kansas City organization and first as assistant running backs coach.

He confirmed Bushman’s account, both on where the bet started — between Ellett and Kelce — and the jersey’s current location.

“We came up with a bet on the game,” Ellett said. “I originally said, ‘You’ve got to wear a BYU jersey into the game.’ And he was like, ‘Nah. I’ll wear it on my show, though.’ And I was like, ‘That’s even better.’”

How to watch
Kansas City Chiefs
vs. San Francisco 49ers
Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas)
Sunday, 4:30 p.m. MST
TV: CBS

BYU won, and Kelce had to own up.

Ellett reached out to former BYU tight end Chad Lewis, now the associate AD of development at the school and Bushman’s father-in-law, for help getting a jersey.

“Chad was like, ‘Yeah, do you want his name on it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I mean, if you can do that, that’d be crazy, like that’d be awesome.’ So they shipped it out next day,” Ellett said.

“I had to get it to him by Wednesday, and then when it showed up, Travis was like, ‘Man, you put my name on it!’ It was awesome.”

So, how did the jersey end up back with the Elletts?

Simple: It was a gift.

“And then Carlie, my wife, she’s like, ‘The one thing I want for Christmas, I just want that BYU jersey.’ And she’s like, ‘Ask Travis to sign it,’ so I asked him and he was like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to do it,’” Ellett said.