The Kansas City Chiefs are one of just eight remaining NFL clubs that spend the entirety of training camp away from their facilities — and Travis Kelce wouldn't have it any other way.
He's been starting his seasons off in St. Joseph, Missouri at Missouri Western State University for over a decade and he loves everything about it. All of the success that the Chiefs have had in a given season, begins with the magic that takes place just 55 miles away from the heart of Kansas City.
"This my sanctuary, baby," Kelce exclaimed after practice on Saturday. "St. Joe. Year 12 means I've spent just about an entire year in my life up here in the dorms, man. Everybody may see that as pretty grueling, but I enjoy it. There's something about this place that gets you ready every single year and I'm not gonna lie, I got pretty excited as the time started counting down to get out here and get this thing rolling."
Kelce has discovered what preparation works best for him and what doesn't over the years. Even now he's tweaking his own training camp routine to best fit his 34-year-old self. Sure, there's time for some fun , but he never forgets that this trip is all business. While some things about camp may change, what stays consistent is Kelce's desire to push himself to be great every single year, and as he says: "Climb that staircase to success."
It's a mentality that's not just unique to Kelce, but it's instilled in every player who joins the organization and comes with the team to St. Joe for training camp. They know that there's a lot of purpose behind their daily actions.
"This is where it all starts," Kelce continued. "They say it starts in the offseason. And yeah, you want to get that foundation set in the offseason of the leadership and the mentality and things like that, but at the end of the day, this is where you really find out what the team is made of. How you sharpen the iron, how your guys practice, the practice habits, the attention to detail. And nobody does it better than Coach (Andy) Reid and Coach Spags (Steve Spagnuolo), man."
The exciting thing each year is the fact that every 90-man roster is different . The goal the Chiefs seek to accomplish as a team remains the same. They aim to get better together, one day at a time. They're also out to build the type of chemistry amongst a new set of players that allows them to dig deep and fight through the adversity of a 17-game season and extended postseason.
"We've got new chess pieces, guys who have different traits and we're just trying to blend that all together to make the best team possible, both on offense and on defense and obviously special teams," Kelce explained. "But it's just the ultimate grind session of working together. We've got to be more together right now than — this is where you really build that togetherness, that chemistry, and that willingness to lean on each other and fight for each other."
And how does Kelce know that everything is coming together the right way at training camp? Well, it's only a matter of time given the standard set from the jump when they arrive in St. Joe each year.
"It's set in stone," Kelce said. "Coach (Andy) Reid puts this challenge in place and he leads his guys and the leaders who have been here know how he wants that to be done. So, it's really just, you grind, you come to work every single day, and you go to practice with the right intentions and you'll slowly start to see the team get better and better every single week."
Related: Chiefs' Dave Toub reveals several players who could make the 53-man roster based on special teams play
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