Travis Kelce shares what motivated him to return to the Chiefs instead of retiring
Days after the Chiefs’ deflating loss in Super Bowl LIX, tight end Travis Kelce said he would take time to decide whether to retire or return for a 13th season.
It seems Kelce had little desire to step away from football.
A week ago, Kelce made it known he would be back with the Chiefs for the 2025 season. On the latest episode of Kelce’s New Heights podcast, he explained Wednesday his motivation for continuing his football career.
“The biggest thing is that I love playing the game,” Kelce said. “I love playing. I still feel like I could play it at a high level, and possibly at a higher level than I did last year. I don’t think it was my best outing. I think I let my guys down in a lot more moments than I helped them, especially if you look at my track record and how I’ve been in years past.
“I want to give it a good run. I got a bad taste in my mouth on how I ended the year and and how well I was playing and how accountable I was for the people around me.”
Those relationship with teammates, coaches and fans is why Kelce wants to play again.
“I love so many people in Kansas City, both in that facility, in the community, and it’s home for me now,” Kelce said. “And I don’t want to leave that life yet. I put in a lot of hard work, and I put in a lot of focus into being the best that I can for KC. And last year, it didn’t end well for us.
“And I feel like there’s a responsibility in me to play out the contract that I initially signed, to give Kansas City and the Chiefs organization everything that I got, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”
Decision-making process
Kelce, 35, had 97 catches for 823 receiving yards and three touchdowns last season. He also caught 13 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown in the playoffs.
Although he has one year left on his contract, Kelce could have chosen to give up football and go all-in on his side job as an actor.
Jason Kelce, the former Eagles center turned ESPN analyst, asked how Travis made his decision to return to KC.
“It’s similar to all the other decisions I make, and it’s just off of feel,” Travis Kelce said. “I’m not a big measure the pros and cons and all of that. I just go off a feel. And I ... love this game, man. And not only that, I love going into the building with the guys that are there. Coach (Andy) Reid has been one of the biggest influences on my life, not just in the game of football.
“And I don’t want to stop going to work with him. I don’t want to stop learning from him. I don’t want to stop being the reason why he has success, or being a part of the reason he has success. I want that guy to have the most success in the world, because of who he’s been to my life. And that’s the same with Pat (Mahomes).”
Kelce named others he wants to play for: general manager Brett Veach, president Mark Donovan, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, tight ends coach Tom Melvin and assistant trainer David Glover.
“There’s so many people in that building that I love with all my heart,” Kelce said. “I want to keep living, living out those dreams, and going to work with them. I never once kind of second-guessed it. It was always in the back of my mind (to keep playing), even when it got tough last year on the body, or when it got tough after the Super Bowl and you’re at your all-time low.
“There’s something in a motivating factor that, you can do this and you want to do this. And I pulled the trigger as soon as I knew that I had that feeling.”
On Super Bowl loss
Jason Kelce wondered if his brother would have stepped away from the game had the Chiefs defeated Philadelphia and gotten the first three-peat in Super Bowl history.
Instead, Kelce had just four catches for 39 yards as the Chiefs lost 40-22 to the Eagles.
“It’s a pretty cool way to go out, but I think I would still have this love for the game,” Kelce said. “I think I would have thought about it more if we would have won.
“The ending of that game, I feel like I owe the guys that I come into that building with a whole lot more effort and focus, and I just don’t know what it was during that game, man. I wasn’t at my best. And the more that I see clips or watch the film, and put myself back into those moments, man, I’m just like, ‘What the (heck)?’”
Beyond the 2025 season
Kelce stopped short of saying he would play just one more season.
“I can’t say whether or not this is going to be the last year because I still love a lot what I do for the city of Kansas City and the Chiefs organization,” he said. “So, I know I got one on my contract, and I’m gonna give you guys everything I got, baby.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 6:33 AM.
