‘Cringe.’ Travis Kelce chugs a beer while getting diploma. It’s not going down smoothly

Lisa Gutierrez
·5 min read
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Kansas City Chiefs fans have seen Travis Kelce do this many times, chug a beer in a moment of joy. He wasn’t the first one to use the Super Bowl’s Lombardi Trophy to slide a cold one down his throat.

Just last month he and his brother, Jason, had an impromptu chugging contest at a Cleveland Cavaliers game to the roar of the crowd.

Heck, even Kelce’s famous girlfriend herself chugged a beer at the Super Bowl for all the world to see.

But for some reason, Kelce’s latest chug has gone down the wrong way.

On Thursday night, the Kelce brothers taped their “New Heights” podcast at their alma mater, the University of Cincinnati. During the show in the university’s basketball arena, the college surprised the brothers by presenting them the diplomas they never received

Both earned degrees — Travis in interdisciplinary studies from the College of Arts and Sciences and Jason in marketing. But neither were able to attend their graduation ceremonies.

So university president Neville Pinto donned cap, gown and commencement regalia to present the brothers their diplomas. Their parents, Donna Kelce and Ed Kelce, and UC athletic director John Cunningham, also in cap and gown, joined them on stage.

The brothers wore caps and gowns, too, for their big moment.

Before Travis got his diploma he chugged from the can in his hand, then slammed it on the ground. The beer left in the can went flying.

The crowd loved it. The university president smiled. The athletic director? Couldn’t really get a read on his thoughts.

On X, formerly Twitter, Heartland College Sports, which covers the Big 12, declared: “ONLY Travis Kelce could get away with this.”

Except he didn’t.

Because social media is now debating the moment in a backlash that recalls how people reacted when Kelce shoved Chiefs coach Andy Reid during the Super Bowl.

On this matter, at least on social media, the “who cares what he does, it’s his life” factions are losing ground to the “time to grow up” folks.

One little detail a lot of them appear to be missing: That wasn’t a real college graduation ceremony. That was not that guy ruining everyone’s big moment.

Kelce fan Allan Housell, aka @housell10, tweeted: “Love my guy Kelce but this is a little cringe slamming a beer can down at a college graduation lol.”

Here’s a sampling of the two takes.

Kelce and his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, are reportedly heading to Coachella this weekend where — music first! — drinking is only allowed in designated 21+ areas.