Travis Kelce Says the ‘Hardest’ Part of Hosting ‘SNL’ Was the Table Read Because He ‘Can’t Really Read That Well’: ‘Kind of a F–ed Situation’

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/travis-kelce-hardest-part-hosting-snl-cant-really-read-1236445700/

41 comments

  1. > “The writers’ rooms were fun because you’re just getting pitched ideas,” Kelce explained. “The table reading, for a guy that can’t really read that well, it was kind of a fucked situation.”

    > “I felt like I was just trying to get through the reading instead of actually acting it out and giving it a voice and giving it a character and things like that,” he added. “I was just focused on, ‘Don’t fucking skip this line.’”

  2. They should lean into this: do a skit where they’re trying to do a table read with Travis Kelce and it’s not going well because he can’t read.

  4. Someone help me out here….didn’t he – like most NFL players – go to University?

  7. Fuck, imagine saying that out loud and being too stupid to not say that shit out loud.

    I guess its a good thing he knows X’s and O’s.

  9. Do people not realize that college football & basketball athletes generally have a vastly different academic experience than other graduates, or even student athletes of most other sports? 

  10. Someone needs to enroll in the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too

  11. People can be highly successful, have degrees, etc, and still have reading disabilities.

    No matter how you feel about Kelce it’s gross to shit on someone for expressing that something is a struggle for them when it can be a major source of shame

  13. It’s a good thing he can use his feet, hands, and dick; otherwise he’s strictly manual labor.

  14. I’m a die heart niners fans. Do not like KC. But huge fan of the Kelce brothers. Seem like good Doods just living their best lives.

  15. So “read” in this context means perform on the fly, something you haven’t rehearsed.

  16. I don’t think people realize how common it is for people to not be able to read. They’ll train themselves to remember common words and phrases, but beyond that it’s mostly incomprehensible. This is deeply saddening to me, but I understand that a lot of people in this country have to work hard and reading isn’t a part of most of the physical labor that goes into building and running every part of the nation.

  20. In the unlikely event Travis sees this – while there is zero reason for you to take me up on this. I will try to teach you how to read better if that’s something you’re interested in it.

    This is a serious offer, because why tf not

  21. And yet he still had a great SNL episode. Natural comedic timing + practice persevere. 

    Also: it’s said that neither tom cruise nor Keanu reeves have hosted SNL because of the amount of reading required, and both are dyslexic. 

  22. That’s really depressing. Reading really should be a fundamental thing.

  26. The Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good

  27. A lot of folks nowadays have developed difficulties reading on paper when you are used to scrolling on texts on your phone.

    Even in colleges and schools everything is taught in PowerPoints and other learning tools nowadays so there really isn’t a ton of reading like before.

  28. I’d really like to lean into this with a joke but honestly it makes me sad

  30. Much like John Oliver, I’m just really curious what he and Taylor talk about…

  31. Travis Kelce is dyslexic. Making fun of a dyslexic is seriously uncool.

  32. But he has a bachelor of interdisciplinary studies from the University of Cincinnati!

    I wonder what factor allowed him to get that even though he can’t read too good.

  33. University of Cincinnati graduate with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree.

  34. That’s how you know he’s a good football player without watching him play

  35. Did he attend the “Center for kids who can’t read good”?

  36. Is he referring to literacy or to the ability of absorbing and translating lines into actual performance on the fly? It’s two very different things that I think a lot of people unfamiliar with live performance tend to mix up.

  37. It’s potentially a very good thing that he came out and said this, as it could help other people with trouble reading. Uh, unless they try to -read- the article. I’ll let myself out.

  38. I mean idk how nice it is to mock him about this. My Dad is very educated and had a great career but he’s dyslexic and a slow reader. Sometimes it just doesn’t work for people on the fly.

  39. Well at least he’s at a high enough reading level to follow Taylor’s lyrics

  40. CTE will do that. Remember they literally supress how bad it is at all levels and positions in the sport lol

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