In 6 Uncensored Words, KC Chiefs Tight End–and Taylor Swift Boyfriend–Travis Kelce Just Told a Painful Truth About Success

If you’re going to fail, is it better to fail early on, or to achieve great things, but not quite reach the success you dreamed of? For Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce (perhaps best known for his romantic relationship with Taylor Swift), the answer to that question is clear: He would rather fail early.

That preference came out in an unplanned moment during this week’s episode of New Heights, the podcast Kelce co-hosts with his older brother, retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. The brothers were interviewing rapper Lil Dicky, co-creator and star of the FXX series Dave. Lil Dicky comes from Philadelphia, so the brothers asked him to name his Mount Rushmore (i.e. top four) Eagles players. 

Among his picks: Donovan McNabb, Eagles quarterback from 1999 through 2009, and a controversial choice. During McNabb’s tenure, the team made the playoffs eight times, played in the NFC Championship Game five times, and made it to the Super Bowl once, where they lost to the New England Patriots. In other words, the Eagles did very well with McNabb, but never quite made it to the top.

“Let me say, as a fan, I would much rather be competitive for ten years and never win than suck and win one year,” Lil Dicky explained. “And McNabb brought an era of sustained–I would say ‘greatness,’ but if you want to say ‘goodness,’ fine.”

“I don’t know,” Jason Kelce mused. “Would you rather take one Super Bowl and not making the playoffs ever again–“

That was enough for Travis Kelce. “Give me that motherfucking Super Bowl!” he cut in. For him, one win in a decade full of losses would be vastly preferable to a decade of making the playoffs but never winning the biggest prize. “I’d rather not make the playoffs,” he said. “Losing in the playoffs and the Super Bowl is the fucking worst, man.”

Almost winning is worse than losing.

Kelce speaks from experience. His team has been in the playoffs every season since 2015 and has played in the Super Bowl four times, with three wins and one loss. That’s an extraordinary record by any measure, but it also means that the postseason has ended in defeat for Kelce and his team seven out of the last ten years.

He knows a painful truth–that having a lot of success but not quite reaching your ultimate goal can feel worse than never succeeding at all. We talk about how a partial success is a great thing, and how even making it to onto an NFL team, let alone into the playoffs, should be a source of enormous pride. Kelce himself said that to Josh Allen, quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, right after the Chiefs beat the Bills in January. Still, when it comes down to it, Kelce knows he would rather win once and lose for the rest of a decade–or maybe the rest of his career–than miss ever getting that Super Bowl ring.

All in on the Super Bowl.

In practical terms, this means that he’s all in on those post-season games, ready to do whatever it takes to go all the way to victory. This year, that included making a spine-tingling speech to his teammates the night before the Super Bowl, and even yelling in the face of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, and bumping Reid momentarily off-balance, in his zeal to get back in the game.

It’s a truth none of us likes to acknowledge: Losing sucks, in sports, in business, and in life. For many people, that fear of losing holds them back from even trying. For others, like Kelce, it drives them to do everything they can to win.

There’s a growing audience of Inc.com readers who receive a daily text from me with a self-care or motivational micro-challenge or tip. Often, they text me back and we wind up in a conversation. (Want to learn more? Here’s some information about the texts and a special invitation to a two-month free trial.) Many are entrepreneurs or business leaders who have taken the risk to fail big in the hopes of reaching great success. Some, like Kelce, will do whatever it takes to make that happen. Does that describe you too?