Arrowhead Pride
Perhaps for the first time, Kelce was candid about his choice on the “New Heights” podcast released on Wednesday.
At the opening night media session before Super Bowl LIX, reporters asked tight end Travis Kelce where he saw himself three years from now.
At the time, Kelce left the door wide open.
“Where will I be in three years? Aw, man. I don’t know, hopefully still playing football,” he said. “I love doing this. I love coming into work every day. I feel like I got a lot of good football left in me, but we’ll see what happens. I know I’ve been setting myself up for other opportunities in my life, and that’s always been the goal knowing that football only lasts for so long. You got to find a way to get into another career, another profession. I’ve been doing that in my offseasons, but for the most part, I plan on being a Kansas City Chief and playing football.”
Kelce has consistently put the team first — and his pre-game answers reflected that. By expressing confidence in the football he still had left, he avoided becoming a distraction ahead of the club’s biggest game of the year.
But on Wednesday, days after the Super Bowl LIX loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Kelce struck a different tone on his “New Heights” podcast with his brother, 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,” said Travis. “I’m kicking every can I can down the road, and I’m not making any crazy decisions, but right now, the biggest thing is just being there for my teammates and being there for my coaches, understanding that there’s a lot that goes into this thing.
“I’ve been fortunate over the past five-six years, I’ve played more football than anybody. It’s because of the people in that building 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. 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, and it can drive you crazy at the same time.
Kelce’s math is accurate. But thanks to head coach Andy Reid, it’s also included playoff games that predate quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Taking away his lone snap in 2013, Kelce has competed in 11 regular seasons and also 25 playoff games — effectively an extra season and a half of deterioration to his body.
Kelce added that he did not feel like the same player in 2024 that he was in...
