Tight end Travis Kelce has played 12 seasons in the NFL and will turn 36 in October, so questions of whether or not he would return to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 13th year have been plentiful. Looking at his resume, Kelce hasn’t left much to be desired with 10 Pro Bowl nods, four first-team All-Pro honors and three Super Bowl rings under his belt.
If he did decide to retire he’d do so as a first-ballot Hall of Famer and one of greatest tight ends of all time. But Kelce wasn’t ready to leave the field just yet.
Kelce told reporters Wednesday he made the decision to come back early in the offseason, saying it was one that came easily.
“I love football,” Kelce said. “I don’t think I really thought about it that much. My friends and family and the team and the guys and women in this building, I love coming into work every single day.”
The way last season ended — a blowout Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles — helped him decide his path forward.
“I really didn’t feel like it was my last game. Just felt like I’ve got a lot more to prove,” Kelce said.
“It wasn’t a very tough [decision] for me. I know I’m getting older, but at the same time, I still feel like I got a lot that I can prove in this league. It really wasn’t that hard of a decision for me.”
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Kelce made sure to make the decision after the sting of the championship loss cooled.
“You want to let the emotions die down,” he said. “That was the biggest thing, you don’t want to make decisions off initial emotions, but for the most part, once they died down I still felt like I had that fire in my chest to be able to keep coming in and building and be better and chase another Super Bowl.”
Kelce did not participate in the Chiefs’ OTAs but was back in Kansas City for mandatory minicamp. Last year, he caught 97 passes for career lows in yardage (823) and touchdowns (three).
Retirement questions won’t end once Kelce confirmed that he was coming back for the 2025 season. Now the question is whether this upcoming season will be his last. He has one year left on his contract and seemed to hint that he intends to play beyond this season, saying, “we’ll try and figure out something for next year.”
“The Chiefs’ organization knows how much I love them. I can’t see myself ever playing anywhere else, so we’ll deal with that down the road when the time is right. But right now, I’m focused on winning a championship this year,” Kelce said.
“Championship” is the main word on Kelce’s mind. Winning three since 2020 with five overall Super Bowl appearances has re-wired his brain to only seeing success as holding up the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.
“I’m only interested in Super Bowl rings,” he said.
He noted that the Lamar Hunt AFC Championship trophy means a lot to the team and ownership, the Hunt family, but for him it’s that next game that determines how he measures a year.
“Last year I think I failed especially in that last game in being a leader and being the one that can step up and make plays. So just setting the bar even higher for myself this year than I have in the past,” Kelce said. “Last year wasn’t a success for me and I’m motivated to make sure we get that other ring this year.”
The Chiefs are tied with the Eagles for the second-best odds of winning it all next year (+750), behind the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens (+700), via FanDuel Sportsbook.
