You might have heard by now that Travis Kelce welcomed girlfriend Taylor Swift on his “New Heights” podcast this week. Among the talking points was Swift recalling her excitement when the Chiefs selected speedster Xavier Worthy in last year’s NFL Draft.
Well, just last month, a WPIAL player trained daily with both Kelce and Worthy in Florida, and that player — one with Hall of Fame genes — hopes the fact that he is now swift himself leads to him and his team reaching new heights this season.
Jayden Revis is a senior wide receiver-cornerback at Moon and son of Aliquippa, Pitt and NFL great Darrelle Revis. The younger Revis (5 feet 10, 165 pounds) plays the same position as his dad and wears the same number (2) that his father wore when he was playing on Friday nights.
When young Revis meets a person for the first time, he is often greeted with a certain question.
“Normally they ask me if I’m related to [Darrelle]. And I say, ‘Yeah, that’s my dad,’” said Jayden, who will be a second-year starter at corner and owns several Division I offers.
Jayden lives with his mom in Moon, while his father lives in Hollywood, Fla. Florida is where Jayden spent most of July working out at XPE Sports, a training facility in Fort Lauderdale. It was there where Revis worked on his technique while also focusing on improving his speed. He wasn’t the only WPIAL standout there, as friends Gabe Jenkins (Imani Christian) and Dajaun Webb (Pine-Richland) joined him.
“It was a great experience,” Revis said. “I met a lot of new people. It was great.”
Among them were Kelce and Worthy, who last year helped the Chiefs reach the Super Bowl. Worthy caught two touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes in the game. Revis also worked out with former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore. Oh, and dad joined in on some of the workouts, too, with Darrelle, who turned 40 last month, throwing passes to his son and running routes as a receiver while being defended by him.
“They were showing me little techniques I didn’t even know about football and just helping me out in any way they could,” Jayden said.
So, did young Revis give defending the speedy Worthy a shot?
“It would have been fun, but we didn’t,” Jayden said with a laugh.
Revis not only took knowledge and advice from his trip but also increased speed while working with trainers Tony Villani and Matt Gates. After previously running a top 40-yard dash time of 4.7 seconds, Revis, who said he got “incredibly faster,” said he is now in the high 4.4s or low 4.5s.
Moon coach Ryan Linn said that training with NFL players was a good thing for Revis to experience.
“I think it shows him this is what you have to do to play at that level,” Linn said. “If you want to get there, this is what you need to do, this is how you have to practice, this is how you have to work. I think that opens his eyes up and forces him to be on top of his game.”
By the way, Kelce isn’t the most famous NFL player that Revis has met throughout the years. That spot is likely reserved for Tom Brady. Revis also met quite a few legends while in Canton for his dad’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 2023.
While cornerback is probably his best position, Revis is expected to make a sizable impact at receiver this season as Moon makes the big move from using a wing-T offense to utilizing a spread attack quarterbacked by senior Andrew Cross.
“We’ve got dudes,” said Linn, in his ninth season. “We have more athletes now than I’ve ever had.”
Linn said of Revis, “He’s very savvy getting out of his breaks, getting open. He’s got great hands. We didn’t see much of that the last few years because of the offense we ran. We only saw flashes in practice.”
Revis has scholarship offers from Temple, Akron and VMI, and hopes to add to that list by putting together some good film the first few weeks of the season.
“Moon is an underdog this year,” Revis said of the Tigers. “We’re just going to go out and show the world who we are.”
And while he’s the son of an NFL great, this Revis said he wants to be known for his own abilities, not his famous father’s.
“It’s really important to me,” Jayden said. “I’ve been trying to do that my whole life. Trying to not listen to the outside noise and just focus on myself.”
Added Linn, “I just tell him, ‘You just have to be Jayden Revis.’”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.