Travis Kelce is going to miss Arrowhead Stadium at some point. The only question at this point is whether or not that day is already upon him.
Kelce and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs played their final home game of the year on Christmas Day, a 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos that sent the home team to a 6-10 record with one road contest remaining. That Arrowhead is shutting down for the rest of the football season is a shock after hosting one or more postseason games for most of the last decade, but K.C. has been out of the playoff picture for quite some time.
No one outside of his trusted circle is quite sure if Kelce is playing his final games or not—perhaps even the legendary tight end himself is uncertain—but retirement talk has clouded his last calendar year. Even last winter, reporters were asking if he was going to return after a disastrous showing in Super Bowl LIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. As it turned out, the sting of defeat brought him back for another run with Patrick Mahomes and company.
Kelce did his part to return in a resurgent way, with a focus on stamina and trimming weight in the offseason for the sake of greater in-season performances. Even at the age of 36, Kelce has 73 catches for 839 yards and 5 touchdowns with one game left to play. His productivity delivered even more records to his name, including the Chiefs' all-time receiving touchdown record in 2025.
If Kelce has already played his last home game, the tight end took the time to soak up the appreciation of legions of Chiefs fans. When asked about a pre-game pause in which he seemed to be thinking about his place in it all, Kelce said, "You know, you only get a few of those where you just get to stand there and appreciate 60,000 to 70,000 Chiefs fans screaming for you. So I always embrace that moment, man."
Kelce was drafted by the Chiefs in 2013, a third-round choice that ushered him into Arrowhead at the same time as his head coach, Andy Reid. From there, he would treat fans to the sort of career numbers at home that would stand among the best tight ends ever. Even if you only counted his stats at Arrowhead, Kelce would still rank among the top 20 tight ends all-time in catches (541) and receiving yards (6,462).
Unsurprisingly, Kelce speaks glowingly of the player experience at Arrowhead. When asked about the best part of playing in K.C., Kelce pointed toward the football tapestry in which he's now deeply embedded.
"I would say the tradition. You can feel it. You can feel the kids and the generations of happiness and the generations of just love that they have coming together on Sundays and cheering for their team. It's a beautiful thing, man. It's something I know I'll cherish forever is those moments coming out of the tunnel or just making a big play for them late in the game. That's why we love Arrowhead, man. It's a special and unique stadium."