Travis Kelce’s Honest 8-Word Admission as Caitlin Clark Reveals Struggles of Navigating NIL

Shouldering a net worth of $52M thanks to his NFL career, Travis Kelce still didn’t like to pay his dues. Yes, that’s right. Back in his Bearcats days, the Chiefs TE admits he was anything but a pro at handling his finances. From crushing it on the field to dodging thoughts about taxes, Kelce’s college years were a different kind of game—and let’s just say the scoreboard didn’t include Uncle Sam.

On his New Heights Podcast, Travis Kelce chatted with Caitlin Clark, one of the top talents in women’s basketball today, and asked her, “Have you heard of anybody? You’re a little bit closer to the NIL world. Have you heard of anybody paying their taxes? Because that’s what is in my mind.” Now, he didn’t even wait for Clark to answer his question while proceeding to give his honest admission on paying taxes. “I’m like, I definitely wasn’t f—ing ready to pay taxes when I was in college. Like, I wasn’t thinking about that shit.”

Anyone who used to follow Kelce closely on his NFL journey would know his problems with taxes. And him admitting how he wasn’t ready to pay taxes won’t really surprise a lot out there.

In Touch exclusively confirmed last year that Kelce had amassed more than $200,000 in back taxes over a period of seven years. From June 2016, the Chiefs TE had an Ohio state tax lien for $46,579. While Franklin County still showed that amount as a lien, In Touch reported it has since been paid off. Now, there’s more to Kelce’s troubles with taxes over the years. In 2018, Swift’s boyfriend was again charged with a $64,198 state tax lien from his home state.

Moving on from his tax troubles in Ohio. Kelce, this time, found two more state tax liens from California between the period of 2017 to 2018. Now, Travis Kelce didn’t just open up on his troubles with understanding taxes. His guest, Time’s Female Athlete of the Year, Caitlin Clark, also revealed some juicy details about the challenges of navigating NIL deals.

Are NIL deals not properly framed?

Caitlin Clark could probably be the biggest star in women’s basketball right now. Playing in the WNBA for Indiana Fever, Clark has already earned recognition from Time as their Female Athlete of the Year in her rookie season. Before bursting into the scene with Fever, Clark spent four years playing for IOWA State. So, when it came to talking about the experience of college athletes in NCAA. Clark revealed quite a few secrets and challenges that come with navigating NIL practices.

Yes, that’s right. You might be wondering what Clark could possibly say about NIL deals that earned her around $3.1M, as per on3.com. Well, there were quite a few challenges that athletes like her had to overcome because of NIL’s lack of guidelines. Appearing on The New Heights Podcast with Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, Clark spoke about how NIL was a bit problematic in her senior year, “It became a thing after my freshman year, and it was kind of weird because, like everybody was like, OK, so like, what is it and like. You know, the NCAA. Like they don’t have many rules on much anymore. So like, right, there weren’t many rules.”

When Clark found out NIL didn’t adhere to a proper rulebook, she suddenly started facing challenges. And questioned around, “OK, like what can we do? What can we don’t can we not do? And like, we’re also the first. So, like you’re trying to figure it out as you go.” While she was busy figuring out the possible maze of NIL deals, Clark’s family turned out to be her savior, “My family helped me a lot. But as you get going, you know, you just figure things out.” Luckily enough, Clark had her family in times when she didn’t really understand how NIL functioned.

However, some college athletes may still face the same difficulties as Clark used to face during her senior year in Iowa. And we just hope Clark pointing out NIL’s loopholes urges the NCAA to take some steps in getting their system right.