Travis Kelce finally had his moment at the microphone at the White House with the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, but there was only one thought running through his head.
"When I walked in, I had about four or five Secret Service members come up to me and tell me, 'You know if you go up to that podium, we're authorized to tase you,'" Kelce said on the June 5 edition of the "New Heights" podcast with his brother, Jason Kelce.
Travis Kelce jokingly mentioned this fear in his quick remark at the microphone.
"That's all that was going through my head," he said on the podcast. "I had no idea President Biden was going to ask me to come up and let me have my moment. And he walks right up, and the first thing he said was (to) give me the floor. And I felt (a) Taser aimed at me when I was up there the whole time."
"If the president invites you up, you’re not going to get tased," Jason Kelce said on the podcast.
After Kelce had tried — and failed — to address the crowd at a 2023 White House Super Bowl celebration, President Joe Biden let the tight end take the mic on May 31 when he hosted the Chiefs for their second straight NFL championship win.
“I’d have Travis come up here, but God only knows what he’ll say,” Biden said. “Travis, come here.”
As his teammates “oohed” behind him, Travis Kelce, almost sheepishly, approached the podium.
“My fellow Americans, it’s nice to see you all yet again,” Kelce said. “Uh, I’m not going to lie, President Biden, they told me if I came up here I’d get tased, so I’m going to go back to my spot.”
Travis Kelce’s antics got his older brother’s stamp of approval.
"My fellow Americans,''' Jason Kelce said on their podcast. "Trav, you nailed it."
Travis Kelce said he was already on the wrong side of the Secret Service after sharing on "New Heights" following the Chiefs' 2023 visit to the White House that he was able to gain entry despite having an expired driver's license.
"The Secret Service that's all over the White House, they weren't too happy with me on my second time visiting," he said on the June 5 episode. "Not just for that, but for the whole, you remember I was talking about how I had an expired ID and I got in the White House. I caught s---- for that.
"Beforehand, I made sure — because of what happened last time and how embarrassed I was for going to the White House with an expired ID — I made sure that I brought my passport this time so that it showed that I was a citizen in Missouri. And I was official, and I was legit, and I was doing things the right way because everyone has to do that at the White House."
Despite his fear, Travis Kelce enjoyed the team's latest trip to be celebrated for their Super Bowl title.
"It's an always an honor to go to the White House," he said on the podcast. "Any time that I get a chance to get recognized by the president of the United States and get to go with my teammates and a group of men and women that I had success with to the point where we get to get acknowledgement, I'm doing it every single time.
"No matter who's up there at the helm, no matter what's going on in this world, I think it's just such a cool opportunity."
In his speech, Biden praised the team's successful season amid its "share of struggles," including "doubters" during the team's midseason slump and a minus-4 degree start to the playoffs in January.
"I don't think anybody's doubting you now. You fought hard. You kept the faith," Biden said, giving a special shoutout to the team's "comeback king —not kid," quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Travis Kelce similarly hammed it up for the crowd at Kansas City's last visit in June 2023, briefly stepping away from a photo op with Mahomes and Biden to take to the podium.
"So, I've been waiting for this —" he started, before Mahomes pulled the tight end away from the mic.
During that 2023 visit, Mahomes and Travis Kelce gave Biden a Chiefs jersey. This year, the president completed his ensemble, receiving a Chiefs helmet that he promptly put on and wore for the rest of the event.
The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in the Super Bowl on Feb. 11. The NFL championship game saw record viewership, likely in part due to the attendance of Travis Kelce’s girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift.
Swift was not mentioned or present at this year's White House event, off the heels of two “Eras Tour” shows in Madrid on May 29 and 30.
During Biden's speech, he also honored defensive tackle Chris Jones, as well as guard Trey Smith and long snapper James Winchester, who helped comfort and protect people after the fatal Super Bowl parade shooting in downtown Kansas City on Feb. 14. One person died and at least 25 people were injured in the shooting.
Kicker Harrison Butker was visible behind Biden during the president's speech, standing among his teammates. The White House visit comes just weeks after Butker's controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College sparked backlash across the country.
Butker criticized abortion, IVF, LGBTQ+ rights, women's roles in society and Biden himself in his May 11 speech.
"Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder," Butker said, in part. "Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally."
A representative for the NFL said Butker's speech was given in a "personal capacity."
“His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger," the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, Jonathan Beane, said in a statement.
On the May 24 episode of the "New Heights" podcast, Travis Kelce defended Butker's character while disagreeing with his opinions.
"I cherish him as a teammate," he said, later adding, "When it comes down to his views and what he said at Saint Benedict’s commencement speech, those are his. I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids. And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life, that’s just not who I am.”
Butker seemingly doubled down on his comments at a gala in Nashville on May 24, saying, “The more I’ve talked about what I value most, which is my Catholic faith, the more polarizing I have become. It’s a decision I’ve consciously made, and one I do not regret at all.”
