How 'Shy Kid' Travis Kelce Built His on-Camera Confidence With Help From Mom Donna

This may seem hard to believe but Travis Kelce was once a shy boy. Luckily for him, his mom, Donna Kelce, was never too far behind with camera in hand to help bring him out of his shell.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end made the revelation Friday during his weekly team press conference in Kansas City ahead of the Chiefs taking on the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LVIII. During that presser, a reporter acknowledged Kelce has the most experience being in front of the camera and he wondered where that palpable confidence came from.

It's an intriguing question, considering Kelce's not only arguably the face of the Chiefs and the NFL at large. On top of that, he's also bagged a ton of sponsorship deals due to his innate ability to exude confidence. He's pushed a ton of products on TV -- from State Farm to Campbell's Chunky Soup -- and he's also soaked up the brightest late-night TV spotlight, when he hosted Saturday Night Live in March 2023. He and girlfriend, Taylor Swift, also made surprise cameos back in October.

So, it's no surprise people are wondering how or when he developed the kind of confidence most people would envy.

"My mom's home videos, man," he said. "Just having that camera on me at all times, seeing what silly stuff I'm gonna do next, man. Honestly, I've always been comfortable in the rooms that I've been in and just been fortunate that I've been able to kind of look into a camera with ease, I guess. I don't know. It's just having fun out there."

Kelce then was asked if being an athlete helped the cause.

"I think just having confidence in general and sports for me is where I built my confidence," he said. "You probably won't believe it, but I was a shy kid growing up up until I got onto the sports field or the court or the ice rink. And then I kind of let my personality show a little bit more because I was having fun. I was having success, and that just kind of propelled me to have confidence in life."

And now he's dating the world's most famous pop star, all the while preparing to win his third Super Bowl ring.

No word yet on whether Swift will be at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to cheer him on, but fans can take solace in that the Embassy of Japan in the United States has assured Swifties that it's logistically possible.

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