Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been on a Super Bowl-winning team three times, including last year and this year. He is, of course, also widely known for his romantic relationship with Taylor Swift. But in 2010, his NFL career nearly ended before it began when he was dismissed from his college team, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats, for smoking marijuana.

Kelce brought himself back from that setback with some mental self-talk that helped him get back on track and stay there. There’s a lesson there for any entrepreneur who’s faced obstacles in their business, and for every business leader.

The trouble began when a 20-year-old Kelce traveled with the Bearcats to New Orleans to play in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. Days before the game, he headed out to Bourbon Street. “I was down there partying, drinking, smoking, trying to enjoy life, and doing things that I wasn’t supposed to be doing,” he said in a 2018 ESPN documentary recently posted to YouTube. The documentary covers the relationship between Kelce and his older brother Jason, who plays center for the Philadelphia Eagles, and may or may not be retiring.

When Kelce found himself faced with an NCAA drug test his heart sank, he said in the documentary. Though he played in the Sugar Bowl, later on head coach Butch Jones called Kelce into his office. “‘Son, you’re off the team. I’m taking your scholarship,'” Kelce recalled the coach telling him. Jones told Kelce he would never play on the team again.

Telling the story, Kelce broke down in tears. “This is exactly how I reacted,” he said.

Kelce didn’t argue. With a positive drug test, there wasn’t much point denying what he’d done. Jason was angry at his younger brother back then, he said in the documentary. They’d been on the same team in high school, but in Jason’s senior year, Travis got kicked off for failing French. Now it was Jason’s senior year again, this time in college. Again, they were on the same team, and again they couldn’t play together because Travis had screwed up.