Travis Kelce becomes NFL’s second-fastest tight end to 7,000 yards

Travis Kelce reached the 7,000 career receiving yard mark in the first half against the New York Jets.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been a model of consistent production ever since he took the field. Now he’s reached his latest career mark after eclipsing 7,000 receiving yards on a long catch against the New York Jets in Week 8.

As the Chiefs continue to extend their lead over the Jets late in the first half, Kelce crossed the 7K mark in just his 103rd overall game, making him the second fastest player in NFL history at his position to hit that total of receiving yards.

Rob Gronkowski, longtime tight end for the New England Patriots (and current member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), is first overall at 100 yards. Kelce is next at 103 yards and then others are much farther down the list, requiring one more full season’s worth of games to reach the same mark of production (Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers is third at 119 games.)

Kelce is already the record-holder for most consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 yards receiving on the year with four, a record that is current through 2019. He came into today’s game with 501 receiving yards in 7 games so far this year, and through the first half, he has another 72 yards. All he needs is an additional 427 in eight more games (and the second half of the game against the Jets) to make it five straight seasons and extend his record.

The Chiefs first drafted Kelce in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft as a tight end out of Cincinnati. What makes his numbers all the more remarkable is that Kelce missed his rookie season in its entirety with a preseason injury that kept him from making his debut until his sophomore season in the NFL.

To date, Kelce has 552 career catches for 7,038 yards and 43 career touchdowns.