Even people who have won, Oscars, Emmys or even the Super Bowl get nervous to host Saturday Night Live. Hosting the legendary sketch show is an honor, and it’s always exciting to see what celebrities get invited into the SNL fold. The latest person to join the ranks of Season 48 hosts was the Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who hosted just a few weeks after his team won the Super Bowl. Now that he’s done the gig, and hosted the show, the football player is reflecting on his time at 30 Rock, and revealed the “best advice” he received from another NFL legend about hosting the show.
Travis Kelce was breaking down his week on Saturday Night Live with his brother Jason Kelce, who has also played in the Super Bowl, on their podcast New Heights. While explaining the process he revealed that Peyton Manning actually gave him the best advice about hosting, saying:
Peyton Manning gave me one word of advice going into it. Which was the best advice I could get. He was like, ’Dude, just go all in. Just be open-minded. Just go all in. Be on time.’
Travis Kelce explained that the advice revolved around committing to the bit. Manning told him that the show is “meant to be absolutely hysterical,” and if you go in with your guard up, you won’t be as funny. The reigning Super Bowl champ said he went in with an open mind, and was ready to take on just about anything, noting how phenomenal the cast is.
While it’s a bit shocking that Peyton Manning of all people gave Travis Kelce great SNL advice, when you take a second to think about the retired quarterback’s history with the show it totally makes sense. Manning hosted the show twice, in 2005 and 2007. He’s one of the best non-actors to host the show, and he’s come back a few times for fun cameos, if you’ve seen his Emily and Paris “Weekend Update” appearance you know exactly what I’m talking about.
You can see in this bit alone that Manning also finds what he's doing hilarious, and loves to do funny bits, and he absolutely kills when he shamelessly leans into the hysterical nature of SNL.
After talking about the entire Saturday Night Live experience, Jason Kelce noted the advice the brothers received from NBA legend Charles Barkley. Jason had popped in for a cameo during his brother’s episode and took the four-time host's practical advice to heart saying:
Make sure you wear drawers. When I tell you they’ll just throw you in a corner and just muddle huddle, and just start ripping clothes off you.
He then noted that he made sure to pack his own drawers before the show. The brothers spoke about how SNL is a well-oiled machine, and working with the dressers and crew was like working with a pit crew.
The two seemed enamored by the whole SNL process, and loved being on the show. You could tell that Travis Kelce was having a blast on SNL, as Manning advised him to, and since he was having fun, the audience loved it too.
Now, it’s Jenna Ortega’s turn to take over the hosting gig, and hopefully, she has just as much fun as these three football players did during their respective episodes of Saturday Night Live.
As the sketch show continues to drop new episodes on the 2023 TV schedule, you can go back and watch Travis Kelce host with a Peacock subscription.
