If this is it for Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce — he’s going to go out playing with the same childlike wonder he always has
Retirement? Maybe. Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce has got his mind on other things for all the right reasons.
Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce may choose to ride off into the sunset and call it a career after the 2025 NFL season comes to a close, but not before finishing out the final three games.
He aims to play, but not to chase stats or hog what remaining glory can be plucked from a failed year, rather because he’s doing what he dreamed of doing from the moment he picked up a football in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, as a young boy. He’s been living out his childhood dreams, and he wants to cherish what’s left of that because who knows what the future holds.
“It’s just integrity, man. Its integrity,” Kelce explained to reporters on Friday. “I signed up to be a Kansas City Chief, and I love doing what I do, and I know I’ve been dreaming of being in these moments and playing for an NFL team since I was a kid, and I think getting back to that will give you more motivation than you could ever need to play this game. I think the integrity of being a man about your work and giving everybody your devoted attention and your sense of urgency to be at your best for them. That’s just how you need to go about work, whether or not you’re in the race or not and I think that’s the mentality going into these last three games is we know it kind of ends after that New Years game – or the game right after New Years in January, but I’m going to make sure these guys know that I’m giving them everything I got.”
Even with the Chiefs reeling from injuries, including a season-ending one to star QB Patrick Mahomes, Kelce wants to go out on his own terms. He knows that countless people would trade places with him if they could, and he doesn’t want to let the opportunity to continue doing what he loves go to waste. At the end of the day, playing in the NFL means that one day your career will come to an end, and you’ve got to make the most of every single time you go out on that field.
“We’re rolling, man,” Kelce said. “I’m out here practicing every single day, and I’m able to keep doing it. It’s an honor to be out there on that field and feeling the discomfort that I’m feeling right now because there’s a lot of guys and a lot of people that wish they could be out there on that field and get a chance to make those plays and feel the soreness after a game. It’s almost like an honor to feel all that. It’s the end of a football season, everybody’s banged up, but this year is no different than others.”
Retirement is furthest from Chiefs TE Travis Kelce’s mind as he looks to finish 2025 strong
Asked if it had crossed his mind that he may have caught his last pass from Mahomes, Kelce shook his head in disbelief. This wasn’t how 2025 was supposed to go, with the Chiefs out of the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, and his best friend on injured reserve, ailing from a serious knee injury.
“Man, that’s crazy,” Kelce said, as if he’d not yet thought about it. “I’d rather keep the focus off the media and everything on this team right now. All the conversations I have with the team and everything moving forward will be with them. It’s a unique time in my life, and unfortunately, I’ve got three games left, and I know when the season ends this year. Typically, we go into it, and we don’t know when it’s going to end, and that’s the beauty of it. But, yeah, just trying to make sure that everybody here knows that I’m focused on trying to win football games at these last three games.”
Kelce has earned his fair share of NFL history during his 13 years in the league. Even with more of it on his doorstep, just 203 yards away from extending his NFL record for 1,000-yard seasons by a tight end to eight, Kelce’s focus remains on two things: Winning and his teammates.
“If it comes with winning three more games with the guys I work with, no doubt,” Kelce said.
Asked about the example he’s setting for his teammates by continuing to play even though there’s nothing left to play for this season, Kelce made his motivations to play entirely clear.
“You could roll the balls out in a Wal-Mart parking lot, sign me up, baby,” Kelce said. “If I get a chance to play in the NFL, I’m going to do it.”
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