Adam Sandler reveals Chiefs’ Travis Kelce nearly played his son in upcoming ‘Happy Gilmore’ sequel

Travis Kelce may or may not return to the field in the 2025 NFL season. But the Kansas City Chiefs star has a cameo in the upcoming “Happy Gilmore” sequel, and it turns out he nearly held a much larger role, with Adam Sandler revealing this week that Kelce was originally a central part of the movie’s story.

“We were talking about you playing my son, while we were writing it six months ago,” Sandler said on Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast. “We were, like, imagine if Travis was my first baby, how funny that would be.”

Sandler originally announced last August that Kelce would appear in the film, a follow-up to the 1996 comedy classic. This came after the Chiefs tight end openly campaigned to be a part of the production, calling himself a loyal fan of the original. Kelce was then featured as part of the first teaser trailer for the sequel, which is due out this year, appearing to play an employee at a golf clubhouse.

As for what fans can expect from the movie itself, Sandler told Kelce and his brother, Jason, that the titular golfer is “a little bit of a mess” when the sequel begins. “Happy Gilmore 2” is also set to reunite Sandler’s character with others from the original film, and feature additional cameos by numerous pro golfers.

Kelce, who’s dabbled in TV since early in his NFL career, has the first line in the teaser trailer from Netflix: “It’s great to see you back, Mr. Gilmore.”