'Some Friendly Banter' (Exclusive): Secret Service Says They Were OK with Travis Kelce's Podium Antics

The Secret Service are fans of Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs.

After the 34-year-old tight end joked that the Secret Service warned they would "tase" him if Kelce tried taking the president's podium for a second year in a row during his team's visit to the White House, the agency tells PEOPLE it was all in good fun.

“Our agents and officers were happy to support Travis and the Chiefs’ official visit to the White House, even presenting him with a Secret Service pin," Secret Service spokesperson Nathan Herring told PEOPLE.

Herring continued, "As for the taser comment, Travis and our personnel were having some friendly banter as we have passionate football fans throughout our organization."

Kelce said on the June 6 episode of New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce that "four or five Secret Service members" approached him during the Chiefs' visit to the White House on May 31 and told him, "You know, if you go up to that podium, we're authorized to tase you … It is actually an order for us to tase you."

But during the Chiefs' visit, President Joe Biden actually invited him up to speak, while poking fun at Kelce's antics from their celebration the prior year. In 2023, the tight end jokingly attempted to take over the presidential podium when Biden wasn't looking.

"I'd have Travis come up here, but God only knows what he'd say," Biden, 81, quipped, referring to the viral 2023 moment in whichKelce stepped up to the presidential podiumwhile his teammatePatrick Mahomespresented the president with a Chiefs jersey.

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4;Travis, come here," Biden beckoned this year after the crowd's laughter subsided. "It's all yours, pal."

This time, Kelce took the podium and said, "My fellow Americans, it's nice to see you all yet again," before joking, "I'm not going to lie. President Biden, they told me if I came up here, I'd get tased. I'm going to go back to my spot, all right?"

While reflecting on the visit during his podcast on Wednesday, the NFL star said, “I had no idea President Biden was gonna ask me to come up and let me have my moment … I felt a taser aimed at me when I was up there the whole time. That's why I was up there, ‘Don't make any quick movements. Be cool.’ ”

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Kelce shared that he was on his best behavior at the Chiefs' most recent White House visit after he arrived at the prior year's celebration with an expired ID.

“I made sure because of what happened last time and how embarrassed I was for going to the White House, with an expired ID, I made sure that I brought my passport this time so that it showed that I was a citizen in Missouri."

The Chiefs were at the White House on Friday celebrating their 2024 Super Bowl win against the San Francisco 49ers. In 2023, the Chiefs visited Biden to celebrate their win in Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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