Standout NFL tight end Travis Kelce could have forever changed the fortunes of Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. No 87 could have brought an end to the 27-year Super Bowl drought for America’s Team. If only the Cowboys believed in him. However, all the pieces of the puzzle did not fall into place and the franchise lost a legendary TE. Kelce recently recalled the awkward and premature end to his Dallas Combine interview.

Back during Travis’ days at the University of Cincinnati, the tight end missed an entire year after being suspended because of marijuana use. However, despite that being a thing of the past, the Cowboys couldn’t bet all their chips on a reformed Kelce, based on just his words.

Travis Kelce recalls infamous Cowboys interview before draft

The NFL world is no stranger to Kansas City Chiefs TE’s college escapades. And had it not been for Travis’ elder brother Jason Kelce, the younger sibling’s NFL dreams would have ended right there. The Philly center begged for coaches to allow Travis to return from his suspension in his sophomore year. And Travis came back a changed man, putting up 45 passes over 722 yards and scoring 8 touchdowns, making the First Team All-Big East in his senior year.

ALSO READ: Peep into Travis Kelce’s Multi Millionaire Pocket Shows He’s Walking in Shadows of Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady

However, while Travis thought that he had moved on from the scandalous episode, others hadn’t. The Dallas Cowboys raised their concerns during Travis’ NFL Scouting Combine interview. And it didn’t go too well, lasting only five minutes, compared to the fifteen minutes he spent with the other teams.

“The Cowboys were kind of pressing me about me having this red flag of missing a year and smoking weed. I don’t know if I was having a bad morning or what was going on………. I basically just said, ‘If you guys think I’m, you know, gonna be that kind of guy or you’re questioning if I’m still that person after everything that I’ve kind of battled through to get to where I am now from missing a season, then you guys probably go somewhere else and pick somebody else,’ and that is exactly what they did,” Travis recounted.

The Chiefs were definitely a surprise destination for Kelce

Travis Kelce just crossed the legendary Rob Gronkowski in post-season touchdowns. Safe to say, his 63rd overall pick in the 2013 draft still baffles many. However, Travis wasn’t as surprised to learn that he was the fifth tight end picked off the board that year, as he was when he heard which team was drafting him. On seeing a Missouri number calling, his first thought was the St. Louis Rams. And 87 was not expecting the Chiefs to make a move.

When Travis met Kansas City, he thought it was just a courtesy meeting. And that they were talking to him only out of the respect that HC Andy Reid had for his elder brother. “Honestly, it didn’t even feel like they were really interviewing me,” Kelce told Jason.

WATCH THIS STORY: Patrick Mahomes’ brother Jackson social media comeback raises eyebrows amidst Brittany’s updates

Travis went on to find his quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. And together they have scripted their names in the history books with two Lombardis in four years. If only Jerry Jones could forget the weed episode, the NFL landscape today would have been significantly different.