Coming off a Super Bowl performance where he was a nonfactor and his team was dominated by the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said he will take some time before making a decision on whether he will return for a 13th NFL season.
“I know everybody wants to know whether 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,” Kelce said on the “New Heights” podcast.
In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Kelce said multiple times that he planned to play in 2025, but he struck a different tone talking with his brother Jason Kelce in the podcast that was released Wednesday.
“I’ve been fortunate over the past five, six years — I’ve played more football than anybody,” Travis Kelce said. “It’s because of the people that are in that building. The fact that we keep going to these AFC championships and these Super Bowls, that means I’m playing an extra three games more than everybody else in the entire league. 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 and every challenge that you set up for yourself.
“As you see yourself or not feel yourself have the success you once had, it’s a tough pill to swallow. For that not to be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team’s counting on you, those are all extremely hard things. … It’s just a tough reality.”
Travis Kelce
“That process can be grueling. It can weigh on you. It can make you better. It can drive you crazy at the same time. And right now, it’s one of those things where it was driving me crazy this year. It happens as you kind of tail off towards the back nine of your career, as SVP [Scott Van Pelt] would say.”
Kelce, 35, was held to four catches for 39 yards in the Chiefs’ 40-22 loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX that denied Kansas City a chance at a three-peat. That ended a season in which he posted career lows (not counting his rookie season when he appeared in one game) in receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (3). He did lead the Chiefs in receptions, however, with 97.
While he had a breakout game in a divisional round playoff win over the Houston Texans with seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown, he was quiet in the AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills with two catches for 19 yards.
“As you see yourself or not feel yourself have the success you once had, it’s a tough pill to swallow,” Kelce said. “For that not to be there in the biggest moments, knowing your team’s counting on you, those are all extremely hard things. … It’s just a tough reality.”
Kelce, a four-time All-Pro, said he needs to be all-in if he decides to play next season.
“I think I owe it to my teammates that, if I do come back, it’s going to be something that it’s a whole-hearted decision. Not half-assing it,” he said. “I’m fully here for them, and I think I could play. It’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human and as a person to take on all of that responsibility.”
Before Super Bowl LIX, Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said he thought Kelce would play next season but that the team would give him the time he needs to make a decision.
“I personally think he’ll be back because he loves the game so much, but we’re going to let him take the time he needs to make that decision and certainly hope he wants to come back,” Hunt said.
ESPN’s Adam Teicher contributed to this report.