Travis Kelce admits he is weighing up the possibility of retirement following the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl drubbing on Sunday night.
The Chiefs are still reeling from their 40-22 defeat to Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, which saw them fail to become the first team in history to pull off a famous three-peat.
With girlfriend Taylor Swift watching on at Caesars Superdome, Kelce endured a miserable night on an individual note after going largely anonymous in the game, leading to intense speculation over his future in the NFL.
And on Wednesday’s episode of his and brother Jason’s New Heights podcast, the 35-year-old revealed he is considering bowing out from football.
He initially told Jason: ‘I know everybody wants to know whether or not I’m playing next year, and right now I’m just kicking everything down the road. I’m kicking every can I can down the road.
‘I’m not making any crazy decisions [yet]. Right now the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding there’s a lot that goes into this thing.’
The legendary tight end went on to cite ‘wear and tear’ after 12 long seasons in the NFL as a reason why he is contemplating hanging up his cleats.
‘The fact that we keep going to these AFC Championships and these Super Bowls, that means I’m playing an extra three games than everybody else in the entire league,’ he explained.
‘That’s a lot of wear and tear on your body and it’s a lot of time spent in the building, focusing on your craft, focusing on the task at hand, every challenge that you set up for yourself. That process can be grueling, it can weigh on you.
‘It can make you better [but] it can drive you crazy at the same time, and right now it’s one of those things where it was kind of driving me crazy this year. It happens when you kind of tail off towards the back nine of your career. When you feel yourself not have the success that you used to have, it’s a tough pill to swallow.
‘And then on top of that to not be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team’s counting on you man… it’s just a tough reality.’
‘I’m gonna take some time to figure it out,’ he continued. ‘And I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back that it’s gonna be a wholehearted decision and I’m not half-a**ing it, and I’m fully here for them.
‘I think I can play, it’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person to take on all that responsibility.’
Kelce, widely considered one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history, recorded just four catches for 39 yards as the Chiefs came off second best to the Eagles.
Retirement was a constant topic of his 2024 season, with many suggesting the end is near when he put up some of the worst regular-season numbers of his career.
Fans and analysts tipped the NFL veteran to walk away from football in order to spend more quality time with Swift, as well as throw himself into more TV and film opportunities away from the sport.
Jason, who retired himself last year after 13 seasons with the Eagles, told his younger brother: ‘It sucks when you get to this point in your career when it becomes harder and harder to do it. There’s a physicality that becomes more difficult to manage, there’s a mental approach that becomes more difficult to manage, because a lot of the time it’s just stocked on top of the physical discomfort and things that are happening.
‘To do it right you have to be committed and you have to put the time in, and you have to be all in. And it’s difficult to sign up for that, because you know what it takes. You’ve been here three years in a row, you’ve been to this game multiple times, you’ve had an amazing amount of success.
‘It’s frustrating when you’re getting older in your career and you know that that’s becoming harder and harder to do, and more and more grueling to go through. So take your time, obviously get away from everything for a while.’
Travis went on to add: ‘This sport can humble you so fast, man. It can give you so much praise, it can shoot you to the moon, and it can bury you man. It can absolutely bury you.
‘It’s the occupation we chose and not everything can go as planned sometimes.’
After hearing his comments, fans fear Kelce is now destined to bring the curtain down on his career, with one writing on X: ‘The wheels are falling off. My heart breaks for trav, all his life he has worked hard to get where he’s at.’
‘As a long time fan of football this sounds like retirement is coming so sad,’ said another.
A third came to the conclusion: ‘He’s done 10000%’.
While one simply wrote: ‘Yeah, he’s gone’.
As he weighs up retirement, reports suggest Kelce plans to take a break with Swift and enjoy some downtime together after the Super Bowl.
His relationship with the pop star is still said to be going from strength-to-strength despite an intense past year for them both and a devastating result for Travis on Sunday night.
A source told People that after Kelce’s loss in New Orleans, which has been described as ‘upsetting for everyone’, the couple are planning a break together.
‘Their lives have been a whirlwind since they first started dating,’ the source is quoted as saying. ‘Things seem great between them, and they’re incredibly happy together.’
But as for Kelce’s future, the source only said: ‘She truly loves watching Travis play.’
