Travis Kelce Says Sports Gave Him Confidence When He 'Wasn’t the Best Student’ in School (Exclusive)

Travis Kelce oozes confidence on and off the football field, but the Kansas City Chiefs star admits to PEOPLE that he struggled with his self-esteem as a student.

Kelce, 33, says, "Honestly, sports gave me a lot of confidence. I wasn't the best student in terms of reading and doing math and everything."

But the two-time Super Bowl champion says he "excelled on the field and on the court," which helped make him "much more confident in who I was," says Kelce. "Being able to just get onto the field or an event where I know I have a lot of confidence, like football, basketball or baseball, that fueled me."

Ten seasons in the NFL later, Kelce says he's feeling sure of himself these days. "My confidence definitely built more as my career has excelled, without a doubt," he tells PEOPLE.

That confidence helped to land him a starring role in DIRECTV's “Overly Direct Sportsperson” campaign ahead of the NFL season's start on Thursday.

Kelce agrees that he's the perfect guy for the job. "I would say that on the football field, I'm extremely overly direct, without a doubt. Especially as a leader, I make sure everybody's on the same page," he shares.

Throughout the campaign, Kelce calls “foul” on fans’ poor sports-viewing habits. "I'm really pushing everybody to go check out the DIRECTV Sports Central feature where you can watch NFL games," he advises, calling DIRECTV's offer "the ultimate football package for football season."

Kelce is an admitted "sports fiend," he tells PEOPLE.

"I'm a sports fanatic. I absolutely love just throwing on ESPN or the NHL. I'll always pop a MLB game on; I'm a huge Cleveland Guardians fan. And obviously, the NBA is one of the most fun things to watch. So I'm all over the place, really. You can catch me watching anything."

When he's not catching up on his favorite sports, Kelce says he loves a good binge-watch as much as the next guy. Most recently, he says he "ran through" the last season of Ted Lasso.

"Jason Sudeikis is one of my favorites," says Kelce, who adds that the actor and his family are big fans of the Kansas City Chiefs. "He and his family always pop in for a game here and there," Kelce shares.

Whether he's watching a game or a riveting series, Kelce says his go-to picks for a viewing party spread are simple. "I mean, wings and football just go together hand in hand. Pizza is always another one. I'm a big pizza party guy. I love a good pizza party. Other than that, you can't go wrong with some good old Kansas City barbecue."