LOS ANGELES – Travis Kelce really didn’t want to participate in “Catching Kelce,” the 2016 E! reality show in which 50 women – one from each state – vied for the affection of the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, who was then not a household name. “Sign me up,” he says in the promo. But it was far from that easy, Aaron Eanes, his manager, told CNN recently.

“People didn’t really look at tight ends as ‘talent’ and so it was more of a situation where it’s like, ‘If you want to be in entertainment, you kind of need to do something that’s unexpected but it’s also going to allow you to learn,” Eanes recalled telling Kelce. We know now Kelce didn’t find lasting love, but he did get the experience he needed to begin breaking into Hollywood.

Eanes and his twin brother Andre, who also manages Kelce, have known the three-time Super Bowl champ since he was a student at the University of Cincinnati and have helped take Kelce’s commercial career and Hollywood pursuits from reality TV to actual reality. While it has always been an ambitious fear, Eanes said it’s easy to root for Kelce, who hasn’t changed all that much since the early days of their partnership.

“(He) still is the same kind of happy-go-lucky person that just enjoys life… He’s just very grounded in who he is,” Eanes said. It has been nearly eight years since Kelce appeared on E!, but Eanes said the football star is finally in a place where his Hollywood pursuits are guided by his innate interests. “Travis is going to do what Travis wants to do,” Eanes said, with a laugh.

As Kelce continues to cement his status as one of the buzziest stars in the NFL, the most-watched show on television, his agents are hard at work setting him up for Hollywood success in the offseason – and his post-football future, whenever that may be. “We have a lot of other opportunities that keep him excited. So I think ultimately, whenever he decides to stop playing, he’s going to still be plenty busy if he wants to be,” Eanes said. (CNN)…[+]