Travis Kelce admitted his NFL scouting combine interview with the Dallas Cowboys stood out for all the wrong reasons.

“It ended really fast,” Kelce said during an episode of the New Heights podcast.

According to the three-time Super Bowl winner, his pre-draft experience with the Cowboys soured when members of the team began asking about a “red flag” from his collegiate career. In 2010, Kelce was suspended from the University of Cincinnati’s football team after testing positive for marijuana.

With the help of his older brother, Kelce returned to the program in 2011 and secured a roster spot as a tight end. When his college days were over and the 2013 NFL draft was nearing, Kelce didn’t seem to appreciate being pressed over his past mistakes by the Cowboys.

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“I basically just said, ‘If you guys think I’m gonna be that kind of guy or you’re questioning if I’m still that person after everything that I’ve battled through to get to where I am now from missing a season, then you guys can probably go somewhere else and pick somebody else,’” Kelce said. “That’s exactly what they did.”

The Cowboys did take a different approach at the tight end position during that draft process. With its second-round pick (No. 47 overall), Dallas selected Gavin Escobar out of San Diego State. Kelce ended up dropping to the third round, where the Cowboys opted to take receiver Terrance Williams from Baylor.

Kelce said the Cowboys were looking for a successor to Jason Witten in that draft. Would Dallas have taken Kelce if the interview had a smooth flow? While that’s unknown to the nine-time Pro Bowler, he did reiterate that he didn’t help his case with the franchise at the combine.

Escobar went on to spend four seasons with the Cowboys from 2013-16 before playing for the Chiefs, Ravens, Browns and Dolphins. He died in Sept. 2022 in a rock climbing accident.

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