This is a story about Travis Kelce before he was the Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift, and Doug Hakey from rural Virginia.
It’s 2019. Travis Kelce hadn’t won his first Super Bowl (it came in 2020). Taylor Swift was with someone else–someone, no doubt, she was going to write a song about. Hakey, a retired developer, was an enthusiastic deer hunter.
Hakey didn’t know a lot about Kelce other than he played for the opposition. Plus, he didn’t know anything about Swift, other than she was a hot singer. He had never listened to any of her songs.
But that’s not the core of this story. This is ….
It was hours before the Pats kicked off against the Chiefs at Gillette Stadium, and Hakey – who was in full Patriots regalia – was killing time in the endzone, just adjacent to the tunnel. Players were warming up. “The guy next to me yelled, ‘Hey, Travis, those cleats are cool.’
Inside Kelce’s cleats
Travis looked our way and said, ‘Who said that?’ He walked straight at us, held on to the railing, and started unlacing his right cleat, and he handed it to the guy. I said, ‘Can I have the other cleat? I would appreciate it. He unlaced it [and handed it to me].”
Doug Hakey with Kelce’s cleat, 2019
In all honesty, Hakey would’ve preferred Gronk’s cleat, but he was blown away by how kind and gracious Travis was. Instantly, he was on Team Kelce.
After chatting with the fans for about twenty minutes in his socks, Travis returned to the locker room. When he returned to the field, he was wearing a pair of red-and-yellow cleats, which he had practiced and played the game in.
Following the game, a Chiefs victory, Hakey and the other fan with the cleat tried to get Travis to sign their souvenirs, but they were unable to grab his attention.
Tribute to Travis Kelce at Hakey’s Virginia home
Fast forward to December 2023, back at Gillette. Travis Kelce was now the Travis Kelce, AKA Mr. Taylor Swift. (No offense.) Hakey still hadn’t listened to a Taylor Swift song. However, he was decked out in Chiefs gear, wearing Travis’s jersey.
Hakey was on a mission.
Doug Hakey at Gillette Stadium in December 2023
He still wanted Travis to sign his cleat – and he had come prepared, Sharpie ready. Security was all in on Hakey’s mission. When Travis came out of the tunnel, Security somehow ensured he passed Hakey.
And he did.
Travis knuckled Hakey but didn’t sign his cleat. Hakey isn’t sure if he remembered him or noticed the cleat. Following the game, a Patriots’ win, Hakey came up empty once again. Travis didn’t stick around to sign anything, but he knuckled Hakey again. Patrick Mahomes stuck around to sign autographs.
Currently, the cleat is on Hakey’s fireplace mantle, surrounded by antlers. Hakey has never tried it on or allowed anyone else to try it on.
Whenever Travis is playing, though, he’ll remove the cleat and take it to whichever room he’s watching the game in. He says that he has no interest in selling it. “Someone would have to offer me a ridiculous amount of money,” says Hakey. “I just love the story behind it.”
But Hakey still hasn’t listened to a Taylor Swift song.
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Jon Hart is the author of Unfortunately, I was available illustrated by Coverkitchen.
Great story.