What about Travis Kelce’s performance on the field? The Chiefs star’s relationship with Taylor Swift has gathered media attention throughout the season.
If Kelce had participated in Kansas City’s season finale versus the Chargers, he would have had his ninth consecutive season with more than 1,000 receiving yards, even in a low year. Kelce decided to take a break for the postseason since the Chiefs’ playoff spot was already guaranteed. He concluded the 2023 season with 93 receptions, 984 yards, and five touchdowns.
Kelce has established himself as a contender to be the best tight end in NFL history. Along with two Super Bowls, he is fourth all-time in receptions (907) and receiving yards (11,328) and sits fifth in receiving touchdowns (74) for a TE.
Could Kelce’s NFL playoff run with the Chiefs in 2024 be his final game on the field? The man himself says that concept isn’t as unbelievable as it sounds.
At his current position, the four-time All-Pro has already ascended to the summit of the mountain. Now 34, he has little left in his storied NFL career to prove and is a surefire Hall of Famer.
Will Travis Kelce be stepping down in 2024?
Before his 2023 season, Kelce appeared unstoppable in the seven NFL seasons prior to that. He had seven seasons in a row with 1,000 receiving yards, and in four of those, he scored ten touchdowns or more. In all those years, he was either a first- or second-team All-Pro and had only missed three games since his rookie year, none of which were because of an injury.
Of those three absences, two occurred in 2021 because to COVID-19, while the other occurred in 2021 because the Chiefs had already assured a postseason berth.
Due to an injury, he missed the Chiefs’ opening game in 2023 for the first time since his debut season in 2013. He had a hyperextended knee. With Kansas City already in the playoffs, he also rested by missing the season’s last game.
Kelce’s physique is beginning to suffer from playing 177 games overall (playoff and regular season combined), at the age of 34. He revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in November that the injuries have him thinking about retiring “more than anyone could possibly imagine.”
“The discomfort is the only thing I haven’t really talked about in detail. The anguish,” Kelce told WSJ’s J.R. Moehringer. “The chronic wounds. Even now, after ten surgeries, I still feel the effects of each one.”
Although Kelce had previously avoided discussing the possibility of retiring, the subject resurfaced in the run-up to the Chiefs’ postseason matchup with the Dolphins.
“Are you guys not considering retiring?” He made jokes in front of the press. “Is this boat carrying just myself?
“Man, I don’t see why I should give up playing football. I adore it. We’re still doing well. Enter with the proper perspective. I really adore the daily challenge it provides me to strive for excellence.
Kelce declared, “I have no desire to stop any time soon.”
Kansas City has Kelce under contract until the 2025 campaign. That, together with his most recent remarks, would make it extremely surprising if No. 87 decided to hang up his cleats after the current season, unless the Chiefs win another Super Bowl and he decides to retire victorious.
To keep Kelce in Kansas City through the 2025 season, the Chiefs inked him to a four-year, $57.25 million contract extension in 2020.
Kelce’s contract still has two seasons and over $28 million left on it before he could become a 37-year-old free agent.
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