KC Chiefs’ Travis Kelce shares reason for expected retirement decision
from Zac Wassink, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
While Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid strongly hinted that tight end Travis Kelce would play at least one more season with the organization, neither Veach nor Reid could confirm Kelce’s mindset at that time.
Kelce silenced chatter about his status for the 2025 campaign by texting former player and current media personality Pat McAfee.
“I’m coming back, for sure,” Kelce said in the message read during Thursday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show,” per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “I’m going to try to get to the best shape I’ve been this offseason and get back to the mountaintop. Got a real bad taste in my mouth with how I played in that last game and how I got the guys ready for battle. I can’t go out like that.”
Kelce produced a regular season filled with ups and downs as the Chiefs won 15 of their first 16 games before they rested starters in Week 18. While he recorded only three touchdown catches, he also led the team with 97 receptions and 823 receiving yards.
The 35-year-old then tallied seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City’s divisional-round playoff win over the Houston Texans. Following that outing, he recorded just two catches for 19 yards in the AFC Championship Game victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Kelce insisted ahead of the Super Bowl LIX matchup versus the Philadelphia Eagles that he still had “a full heart of football left in” the tank. However, he later suggested that he could retire due to the “wear and tear” on his body after he caught just four of six targets for 39 yards in the 40-22 blowout loss to Philadelphia.
During a chat with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero at the NFL Scouting Combine, Veach revealed that Kelce “was battling through a pretty big illness” leading up to Super Bowl LIX.
Perhaps recovering from that mystery ailment led Kelce to believe he could be a significant part of the alleged “revenge tour” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes planned for the rest of the NFL later this year.