Travis Kelce Says He Sometimes Feels Like Roy Kent From ‘Ted Lasso’

When it comes to shooting promotional material for the NFL, Travis Kelce said he sometimes feels like a famous fictional TV athlete.

“I’m just an old, angry veteran at this point. I am — what was his name — Roy Kent off of Ted Lasso,” Travis, 34, joked on the Wednesday, June 12, episode of his and brother Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast.

Travis made the comparison while chatting about having to participate in the Kansas City Chiefs media day before recording the episode. “I got told to stand there and look over my shoulder and point at my nameplate on the back of my jersey,” he shared before sarcastically stating, “It’s the best, dude.”

Ted Lasso’s foul-mouthed Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) shares Travis’ dislike of doing sports promotion, both as a player and coach for the fictional soccer (ahem, football) team AFC Richmond. But, like Travis, Roy also cares deeply for his team’s staff.

“I’ll do it for the in-house people because I know them on a personal level,” Travis added. “But honestly, all the extra production stuff, I’m just kind of like, ‘Haha, no, no, no. I will see you guys later.’ And I got some side eyes, but it is what it is. I just feel like doing that every single year for the same networks, doing the exact same thing, I’m too stubborn.”

Travis said he did “feel bad” at some point for the people running the Chiefs’ media day. “I was just like, ‘Alright, let’s just hurry up and get this thing over with,’” he stated. “’Come on. What else do I need to do? Alright, stand here, turn over my right shoulder and f—king smile and point at the camera. Got it. I’ll do it.’”

Jason, 36, agreed with his brother’s remarks, telling listeners, “I hate somebody telling me what to do. I cannot stand, like, ‘Oh, do you want to flex?’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t want to flex. Just take the f—king photo. I’ll do what I’m willing to do. Take the photo. Can you not just take photos while we’re standing around?’ I am out on posing for photos.”

Jason, who retired from the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this year, also apologized for him and Travis sounding like “a-holes” for complaining, noting, “Maybe it’s because we’ve done them so much.”

Roy Kent was a fan-favorite character on Ted Lasso throughout the Apple TV+ comedy’s three-season run from 2020 to 2023. Like Travis, Goldstein, 43, revealed that he also identifies with his now-former onscreen counterpart.

“I was a writer [on the show] and we were, like, five episodes into writing it, and I started to think, ‘I think I’m Roy,’” the actor, who scored back-to-back Emmy wins for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021 and 2022, shared during a September 2021 Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview. “But I also thought, ‘No one around this table writing thinks I’m Roy because I’m soft-spoken and I love The Muppets. No one is thinking this.’”

Goldstein proceeded to film audition tapes for the part. “I emailed it to them and I said, ‘Thanks for having me. If this is awkward or this is s—t, pretend you never got this email and I promise I will never ask you about it,’” he joked. “’But if you like it, I think Roy Kent is in me, growling.’”