If Travis Kelce ever seriously considered retirement this offseason, he didn’t let it linger.
Despite an emotional end to the Kansas City Chiefs’ season in 2024, capped by a heartbreaking loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, Kelce says coming back for his 13th year in the NFL was anything but a difficult choice.
“I love football,” Kelce told reporters at Chiefs mandatory minicamp. “I don’t think I really thought about it that much. My friends and family and the team and the guys and women in this building, I love coming to work every single day. With that being said, it really wasn’t that hard of a decision for me.”
Kelce admitted that the difficulty of making such a monumental decision to potentially end his playing career was at its zenith in the aftermath of the loss to the Eagles. Fortunately, a cooler head prevailed in the end.
Travis Kelce spoke at mandatory minicamp about retirement rumors, his playing weight, and more.
“You wanna let the emotions die down. That’s the biggest thing,” Kelce said. “You don’t want to make a decision off the initial emotions. For the most part, once they died down, I still felt like I had that fire in my chest to be able to keep coming in and building and be better and chase another Super Bowl.”
That internal drive helped shape Kelce’s offseason, including a more focused training regimen that sparked rumors about a drop in weight of 25 pounds. Kelce clarified those reports on Tuesday, acknowledging that he's slimmer but a total was never revealed.
“First of all, I never said that,” he said. “Don’t believe all you read on the internet, guys. I never told anybody… I’m down some weight from the end of the season. Each year is different, man, and you’ve gotta rebuild it.”
Specifically, Kelce said his offseason calendar and commitments this spring has allowed him to alter his regimen that weren't in the cards last season. That's allowed him to come back for minicamp feeling ready for the road ahead.
“This year, I got some time to really focus on some form running and some things early on in the offseason that I just didn’t have time for last year. Certainly feeling good, and I think it will pay off.”
Kelce is coming into the final year of his contract for the Chiefs, and it's possible this is his swan song. But the focus is on other things at the given time.
“I’ve got one year on this contract. I know that. We’ll try to figure out something for next year,” he said. “The Chiefs organization knows how much I love them. I can’t see myself ever playing anywhere else, so we’ll deal with that down the road when the time is right. But right now, I’m focused on winning a championship this year.”