Travis Kelce isn’t ready to hang up the cleats. Instead, he’s shaking off a Super Bowl 59 loss to continue playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The star tight end experienced a down year, by his standards, in 2024, but doesn’t want to walk away from the game he loves. Talk of retirement dominated Kelce’s season, with speculation only growing as the weeks went by. After looking mostly nonexistent in the Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, there was some question whether that would be the last time NFL fans saw of Kelce on the field.
Then it was revealed during the NFL combine week that he would return for a 13th season. Kelce addressed his decision to play another year during the latest episode of the ‘New Heights’ podcast.
‘I think the biggest thing is that I (expletive) love playing the game of football,’ Kelce said. ‘I love playing. I still feel like I can play it at a high level and possibly at a higher level than I did last year. I don’t think it was my best outing. I think I let my guys down in a lot more moments than I helped them, especially if you look at my track record and how I’ve been in years past. I want to give it a good run. I got a bad taste in my mouth in how I ended the year and how well I was playing and how accountable I was to the people around me.’
He continued, saying how much he loves the city and the community.
‘I love so many people in Kansas City, both in that facility, in the community, and it’s home for me now,’ Kelce said. ‘I don’t want to leave that life yet. I put in a lot of hard work and I put in a lot of focus into being the best that I can for K.C. Last year it didn’t end well for us. I just feel like there’s a responsibility in me to play out the contract that I initially signed, to give Kansas City and the Chiefs organization everything that I’ve got, and that’s what I’m going to do, man.’
Kelce has one year left on his deal with the Chiefs. The 35-year-old carries a cap hit of $19.8 million for 2025, according to Spotrac.
Ultimately, he said, the decision came down to feel rather than some measured approach.
‘It’s similar to all the other decisions I make and it’s just off of feel,’ he said. ‘I’m not a big measure the pros and cons, and all that. I just go off of feel. Pure gut feeling.’
Kelce added that he loves going to work with his teammates and especially Andy Reid, calling the head coach one of the biggest influences on his life.
Despite those factors, the Super Bowl loss played a role in the tight end’s decisiveness to announce his return.
‘It was probably the biggest factor,’ Kelce said. ‘I mean, it’s a pretty cool way to go out, but I just think I would still have this love for the game. I think I would have thought about it more if we would’ve won.
‘The ending of that game, I feel like I owe the guys that I come into that building with a whole lot more effort and focus,’ Kelce said. ‘I just don’t know what it was during that game, man, but I wasn’t at my best. The more that I see clips or watch the film and put myself back into those moments, man, I’m just like what the (expletive)?’
Despite finding some extra motivation while watching the film, Kelce said that he has to play the game for the right reasons, suggesting he can’t be mad about how everything ended in 2024.
The tight end addressed some of the pieces the Chiefs will have coming back, but also some of the roster construction issues they currently face regarding contract negotiations and cap space.
‘We gotta get some pieces,’ Kelce said. ‘This offseason, we’re stuck trying to juggle some contract negotiations and losing some key pieces. And that hurts.’
Despite the challenges, Kelce is back in the fold for at least one more year, though he stopped short of committing beyond that.
‘Kansas City, baby, we’re back at it for at least one more year,’ he said. ‘I can’t say whether or not this is going to be the last year because I still love a lot of what I do for the city of Kansas City and the Chiefs organization. I know I’ve got one on my contract, and I’m gonna give you everything I got, baby.’
Kelce finished 2024 with a career-worst in both receiving yards, 823, and touchdowns, three. The three-time Super Bowl champion, four-time All Pro and 10-time Pro Bowler has accomplished plenty in his career.
He’ll eventually add ‘Hall of Famer’ to that résumé. For now, he returns to Kansas City with some unfinished business.