On Wednesday via his New Heights Podcast, Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce said his future about returning for the 2025 season is undecided. After a bitter Super Bowl loss and a defenseless moment when the Eagles fans booed his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, Kelce will take time to decide what his body and heart can bring to the football field for perhaps one more NFL season.
If the Clock starts today on his future enshrinement in the NFL Hall of Fame, I can’t think of a single Kansas City Chiefs fan who would be upset if Tight End Travis Kelce hung up his cleats and ran off into the sunset and lived a life without football.
Forget his success on the field; Travis Kelce has given everything to the game of football and the Chiefs Kingdom. He’s one of our very own and grew up in Kansas City. If he should leave the game today, he’ll do so as the best Tight End in NFL history!
“I’ve played more football than anybody. And it’s because of the people that are in that building,” Kelce said. “And 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. And 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.”
Those comments are valid, and you must ponder their meaning. Kelce has been to seven straight AFC Championship games and five Super Bowls. Those extra games take a toll on his body and mind and tug at his heart to decide his future.
The Chiefs organization will give Kelce time to make a decision, but they’ll need to know his status before the start of NFL Free Agency, which begins March 10th with the two-day negotiating window. Only Noah Gray will be healthy to start the 2025 season if he retires.
Last year’s fourth-round draft pick, Jared Wiley, tore his ACL in October, and it’s doubtful he’ll be ready until late September at best. So, with many free agents to pursue internally, Kelce’s decision affects the team’s salary cap and their competitive path to keep their dynasty alive.
Kelce is a big reason that the window remains open. Still, there’s no telling what he might do.
“I think I’m going to take some time to figure it out. And I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back, that it’s going to be something that [is] a wholehearted decision, and I’m not half-assing it, and I’m fully here for them. I think I could play. It’s just whether or not I’m motivated or whether it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, or as a person to take on all that responsibility,” Kelce said on Wednesday.
Reports are circulating that he and Taylor Swift will spend time together this month. With the NFL Season over and her Era’s Tour at a close, the decision to keep playing will likely be a joint effort with her and his family.
Travis watched his brother Jason retire last year, and it was grueling on the brothers. So Travis understands the impact, both internal and external, will have on everyone should he decide to play another season or hang up his cleats now.
Personally, Kelce has nothing left to prove, and should he return in 2025, it would mark a farewell tour of sorts, with the caveat that he can help the Chiefs get back to the Super Bowl to avenge their bitter loss on Sunday.
My heart says he won’t go out after a Super Bowl loss, but on the flip side, he has nothing left to do on the football field. He’s been a warrior, a rock, a mentor, and a friend to his teammates who have endeared him inside the locker room and across the Chiefs Kingdom.
Whatever he decides, they will support him.
