Recently, the wife of a Kansas City Chiefs coach shared a story of Travis Kelce’s act of kindness toward her husband—and the heartwarming tale has since gone viral on social media.
On Sunday, Feb. 4, Carlie McKeon Ellett, who is married to Chiefs’ Assistant Running Backs Coach Porter Ellett, took to TikTok in an attempt to sway Kelce critics in his favor.
“If you don’t like Travis Kelce, I think I have a story that could potentially change your mind,” Carlie promised. “And if you do like Travis Kelce, I have a story that will make you fall in love with him even more.”
She then referenced an incident caught on video of Kelce moving Baltimore Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker’s equipment out of the way so Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes could warm up ahead of the AFC Championship on Jan. 28.
“For some reason, people online thought that demonstrated Travis Kelce’s poor personality, or something like that. And it couldn’t be further from the truth,” Carlie said. “Travis Kelce is a gem for a host of reasons, and I can say that even prior to him dating Taylor Swift.”
Travis Kelce told Justin Tucker he needed to move because their QB Patrick Mahomes had to warm up. So Kelce kicked his ball away and threw his helmet. 😂 pic.twitter.com/pFF0DC1yA7
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) January 28, 2024
“When my husband was in his first year with the Chiefs, he was the senior assistant to Head Coach Andy Reid, which put him at the very bottom of the coaching totem pole,” Carlie explained. “Despite being at the very, very bottom, Porter made really good relationships with lots of players, including star Travis Kelce.
Carlie shared that one interest that Porter and Travis bonded over was their love for shoes, calling them “sneaker heads.”
“Obviously, Travis is a fashion icon. My husband is nowhere near a fashion icon, but he does love all things Nike, all things Jordan. So they regularly talked about shoes,” she added.
Because Travis is sponsored by Nike, the company regularly sends gear to the Chiefs facility. One day, after practice, the tight end and his teammates discussed Nike’s self-tying shoes inspired by Back to the Future character Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox).
“One of the players mentioned if anybody should have shoes like that, it’s Porter,” Carlie said in her TikTok video. “Because another fun fact about my husband is he only has one arm. So he does have a unique style of tying his own shoes.”
After the comment, Carlie said Travis consulted one of the Chiefs’ equipment managers to get Porter’s shoe size and then asked his Nike rep for a pair for Porter.
“One day when Porter went down to get changed out for practice, there sitting in the box were the brand new Mary McFly self-tying shoes from Travis,” she explained. “…So if you don’t have a rooting interest this Sunday in the Super Bowl, 10 out of 10 recommend cheering for Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs.”
In the comments of the TikTok video—which has been viewed 1.9 million times and liked by 243,000 users—folks praised Kelce for his act of kindness.
One person declared, “❤️how you act when no one is looking…says everything! ❤️.,” while another wrote, “Its the quiet kindness that just makes me like him more.”
Meanwhile, someone else shared, “I know a local pittsburgh comedian who is friends with Travis and he told me he’s 100% genuine and great guy!!”
Yet another TikTok user commented, “Travis seems like a class act, kind hearted guy. I love him! Go chiefs!”