Kansas City Chiefs’ star Travis Kelce revealed that retirement wasn’t a serious consideration for him following their crushing Super Bowl defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles dominated the Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans back in February, with Patrick Mahomes struggling to find his rhythm on offense and the Eagles’ defense coming out on top.
Despite a lackluster season in which he managed only 823 yards and three touchdowns and a mere four catches for 39 yards in the Super Bowl, Kelce didn’t give much thought to hanging up his cleats. This was his second consecutive season with less than 1,000 yards, sparking questions about his future in the sport.
However, after taking some time to reflect on his NFL career, the 35-year-old decided to return to the Chiefs as they aim to make it to their fourth straight Super Bowl. During the team’s mandatory minicamp, Kelce, who is also building a successful post-NFL career, shared that his love for football made the decision to keep playing an easy one.
“I love football, I don’t think I really thought about it [retiring] that much,” Kelce told reporters. “My friends and family and the team, guys and women in this building, I love coming in to work every single day.
“It wasn’t a very tough one for me. I know I’m getting older, but at the same time, I still feel like I’ve got a lot that I can prove in this league. With that being said, it really wasn’t that hard of a decision for me.”
After experiencing the sting of a Super Bowl loss, Kelce needed time for the raw feelings to subside before seriously considering his future in the game. He commented: “You want to let the emotions die down.
“That was the biggest thing was, you don’t want to make decisions off the initial emotions. 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.”
In March, Kelce decided to continue with the Chiefs, later detailing the motivations for his decision on his ‘New Heights’ podcast.
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“The biggest thing is that I f—— love playing the game of football,” Kelce declared. “I still feel like I can play 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 for how I did in years past.
“I want to give it a good run. I got a bad taste in my mouth on how I ended the year and how well I was playing and how accountable I was for the people around me.”
Now pursuing his fourth Super Bowl ring as he enters the 13th season of his NFL career, Kelce remains a dominant tight end. With ten Pro Bowl appearances and seven All-Pro selections—four on the first team and three on the second—he is undeniably one of the all-time greats at his position.
