At age 35, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce appears to be nearing the final seasons of his NFL career. Though Kelce continued to lead the Chiefs in receiving yards and set franchise records this season, he is beginning to think about when he will retire.
“It changes every single day,” Kelce told The Stephen A. Smith Show, regarding his thoughts on retiring. “I love everything that I’m doing in this building, but at the end of the day I’m not having that extreme success on the field as I have individually. … I’ll reevaluate it like I always do, and I’ll probably tell myself how much I love this thing and I’ll come back next year.”
Kelce has not indicated any plans to retire after the Chiefs’ current playoff run, but does want to hang it up before he becomes ineffective on the field.
Travis talks retirement pic.twitter.com/01cgPBE9ZE
— 🏈👑 | fan acct. (@TayvisHaze) January 15, 2025
“I never want to get to the point where I’m not helping this team win, or I’m hurting this team more than I’m helping,” Kelce said to Smith. “As long as I’m coming out here playing good football and enjoying coming into the building everyday with my guys, you’ll see me in a Chiefs uniform.”
If Kelce does decide to continue playing, he will have the full support of girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
“She’s fully encouraging me to enjoy playing this game,” Kelce said. “She loves coming to Arrowhead and coming to the games and cheering for me so I got all the support in the world to keep chasing these dreams.”
📹| Travis on if Taylor is encouring him to retire or keep playing:
“She’s fully encouraging me to enjoy playing this game. She loves coming to Arrowhead and coming to the games and cheering for me so I got all the support in the world to keep chasing these dreams.” pic.twitter.com/k7vkBwszH7
— Taylor Swift Updates 🩶 (@swifferupdates) January 15, 2025
Whenever Kelce does retire, he will close one of the greatest careers a tight end has seen in NFL history.
Kelce holds numerous NFL regular and postseason records, and has the most 1,000 yard seasons by a tight end ever. He is a three-time Super Bowl champion, four-time first team All-Pro, and 10-time Pro Bowler. Once he hangs up his cleats, he will likely be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Canton five years later—potentially with Swift there to cheer him on.
