Travis Kelce is one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of the NFL, having earned numerous accolades as a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. Simply put, he’s had an excellent run and, as of late, there was reason to wonder whether he’d finally hang up his cleats. Well, within the last week, 35-year-old Kelce confirmed he would forgo retirement to participate in his 13th season as a pro athlete. Now, he’s getting candid about the biggest factors he weighed while deciding whether or not to return to the gridiron for another year.
I’d imagine it’s challenging for an athlete to think decide on retirement, as there are various factors – both internal and external – to consider. Travis Kelce opened up about his decision while speaking with his brother, Jason, on their New Heights podcast. When Jason asked his sibling to share his rationale for returning to the Chiefs, Travis began by attributing the choice to his sheer love of the sport as well as another major factor related to the previous NFL season:
I think the biggest thing is that I fucking love playing the game of football. I love playing, I still feel like I can 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 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 just, you know, I wanna give it a good run. I got a bad taste in my mouth on how I ended the year and how well I was playing and how accountable I was for the people around me.
