Travis Kelce Reveals His 'O.G. Nickname' Before Brother Jason Made 'Big Yeti' His Staple
Travis Kelce Reveals His 'O.G. Nickname' Before Brother Jason Made 'Big Yeti' His Staple
Clare FisherWed, April 1, 2026 at 1:58 PM UTC
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Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, May 2025Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty -
Travis Kelce revealed his early NFL nickname and what is inspired by on the April 1 episode of his and brother Jason Kelce's New Heights podcast
Jason calls his brother “Big Yeti,” a nickname dating back to Travis’ college basketball days at the University of Cincinnati
Taylor Swift described Travis as a “human exclamation point,” a nickname praised by Jason on their podcast
Travis Kelce may be known to his brother Jason Kelce as “Big Yeti,” but he also has another nickname!
On the Wednesday, April 1, episode of New Heights, the podcast he presents with his brother, former NFL star Jason, 38, Travis, 36, revealed that early on in his NFL career he was called “Hoopsie.”
Jason shared that his brother’s “O.G. nickname” came to light during his recent contract signing.
Travis shared that he would be “struggling coming out of the huddle every day,” during the early days of training in his NFL career while wearing “hoop earrings.”
Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce on Feb 4, 2026Credit: Aaron J. Thornton/Getty
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Noting that the nickname was a “banger,” Travis added that it was during 2013 and 2014. “Travis running around the Kansas City facility screwing s–t up, being called Hoopsie.”
“Do we need Hoopsie merch?” Jason teased Travis, who replied that he would “Get Tommy Hilfiger on it,” referring to his upcoming collaboration with the iconic American fashion brand. “The Hoopsie line.”
“We're bringing back the earrings. You heard it here, Tommy,” Jason added with a laugh.
When Travis signed his recent one-year, $12 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, the tight end also touched upon his early nickname. On being presented with a picture of himself during his early NFL days with long hair, he recalled that he was called “Hoopsie” around that time.
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In a video posted by the Chiefs on Instagram of the moment, he explained, “That’s back when they called me ‘Hoopsie’ because I had the hoops and I used to mess up plays all the time,” Kelce remembered. “Yeah, [I’ve] come a long way. Go Chiefs!”
However, one person who doesn’t use Travis’ “Hoopsie” nickname is dad of four Jason, who is known to refer to his younger brother as “Big Yeti.”
The affectionate moniker is frequently used on the brothers’ podcast and Jason has even been known to sport “Big Yeti” T-shirts. But back on an October 2022 episode of the podcast, they revealed the origins of the name.
A 'Big Yeti' T-shirtCredit: Homage
Sharing that it dated back to Travis’ days at the University of Cincinnati, where in between football practice, he played pickup basketball “quite a bit,” as Jason said, and was often on the skins side of a shirts-and-skins pickup game.
“I had the big beard, I had the long hair, I had the chest hair, back hair, arm hair, leg hair … I was just a big ole Yeti out there, man. All the homies on the court were calling me ‘Big Yeti’ — especially ‘cause I was a low post player, so I was just down there giving work, handing out work in the post,” Travis laughed.
Travis’ fiancée Taylor Swift also has her own nickname for her man. During her August appearance on New Heights, Swift, 36, shared that she called Travis a human exclamation point.
On the subsequent podcast episode, Jason touched upon Swift’s description saying, “That is such a great way to describe [you.] That might be better than Big Yeti, the human exclamation point.”
He added that his sister-in-law-to-be was, “f---ing good with words.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
