KC Chiefs TE Travis Kelce sets the record straight on decision to return for Year 14 in latest appearance with Pat McAfee
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce told Pat McAfee that any retirement thoughts were “short and brief.”
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce is officially back for Year 14, signing a one-year deal worth up to $15 milllion during NFL free agency. And needless to say, he’s amped to be back.
Appearing briefly on the latest episode of ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show,” Kelce pulled back the curtains on his decision to return to Kansas City. His energy was palpable from the first moment, with a selfless display of excitement over what his team had already done during free agency.
“Taking another run at it, baby,” Kelce said. “Taking another run at it, and the Chiefs are making moves, Pat. We got Brett Veach and Andy Reid going, and getting the Super Bowl MVP (RB Kenneth Walker)? Are you kidding me?”
As exciting as that move was, McAfee wanted to get into the weeds with Kelce about his decision to return to the NFL for another season. Kelce’s mindset was about what Chiefs Kingdom had come to expect, given how the 2025 NFL season ended for Kansas City.
Retirement talk was overblown for Chiefs TE Travis Kelce
The reality is, Kelce was never in talks with other clubs when the legal tampering period began. He was in constant communication with the Chiefs, and it also appears he was never close to deciding against playing another season in the NFL.
“Did you ever think about stopping this year?” McAfee asked.
“Yeah, I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty short and brief, and the Chiefs knew where I was the entire time on it,” Kelce explained. “I think you always need to take a step back. You always need to take a step back, breathe, let the emotions of the season settle down, and see where the body is, and things like that. But man, I’m still in love with this game. I still love going to work, putting on the pads, grinding and out, and just playing the game. I think my best opportunity was playing for the Chiefs yet again and running this thing back with Pat Mahomes and Coach Reid. Got my guy, Eric Bieniemy, back. There’s a there’s a lot of pieces in Kansas City that I just I absolutely love, and I can’t wait to get back in the building with him. I’m pumped.”
McAfee, of course, asked about Kelce’s comments on Eric Bieniemy’s return to Kansas City on New Heights and whether he was hinting at his return then. While he’s learned a thing or two from his fiancée about the art of Easter Eggs, Kelce confirmed that the language he used was merely a Freudian slip.
“Once I started dating Taylor (Swift), I started understanding what Easter Eggs were, and you started kind of just placing those things all over the planet, and everybody started to catch on,” Kelce joked. “Yeah, that was a slip-up. I didn’t realize I said that.”
The Chiefs have gone from the hunted to the hunters
One of the motivating factors behind Kelce’s return seems to be that the team has a new motivation following a 6-11 season. This wasn’t just the worst season they’ve had in a while; it’s the worst record they’ve put up since Andy Reid has been in Kansas City. They’ve suddenly gone from being the team that everyone was hunting to the team that needs to be the hunter and prove themselves.
“…I need to get back into the gym and really, you know, hunker down and get back to the craft, man,” Kelce said. “I think the biggest thing about coming back was that we got to be even hungrier than we’ve been before. And talking to Pat (Mahomes), talking to Coach Reid, and the guys. It’s a pretty… there’s a lot of dog mentality right now to get this thing fixed, and then, and that mentality itself is already kind of motivating me to get to where I need to be during the season.”
After the Las Vegas Raiders spent a league-leading $281 million on the first day of free agency, there’s a lot of chatter about what the AFC West will look like in 2026 and whether the Chiefs have fallen too far. Kelce says the team hears the noise, and it remains a motivating factor.
“We’re seeing, we’re seeing what the world’s doing right now,” Kelce said. “We’re seeing how everybody’s reacting. But we know we got the nucleus in Kansas City, we got some big hitters in Kansas City, and we got coach Reed, so we’re never out of this thing. Well, we know the division is getting pretty competitive across the board, and you know that’s only going to make it for us to get better throughout the season and be the best team we can be at the end of it. We hear it all, though. We hear it all, though.”
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