Travis Kelce spoke on Wednesday for the first time about his decision to return to play for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025.
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On the latest episode of the "New Heights" podcast with his brother Jason, Kelce said he still loves the game and believes he can remain playing football at a high level — "possibly at a higher level than I did last year."
"I think the biggest thing is that I f***ing love playing the game of football," Kelce said. "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 think 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 want to give it a good run. I got a bad taste in my mouth in how I ended last year and how well I was playing and how accountable I was to the people around me.
"I love so many people in Kansas City, both in that facility, in the community, and it's home for me now. I don't want to leave that life yet. I put in a lot of hard work and I put in a lot of focus into being the best that I can for K.C. Last year it didn't end well for us. I just feel like there's a responsibility in me to play out the contract that I initially signed, to give Kansas City and the Chiefs organization everything that I've got, and that's what I'm going to do, man."
During the NFL scouting combine last week, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said the team anticipated Kelce, who will turn 36 in October, would be back. Two days later, Pat McAfee read a text on his show from Kelce stating that the veteran tight end would be returning as he didn't want his career to end on a performance like he had in the Super Bowl LIX loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kelce had his seventh straight season with at least 90 receptions in 2024, but recorded his lowest total receiving yards (823) since 2015 and the fewest touchdowns (3) in his career. He had four receptions for 39 yards on six targets against the Eagles and said his play in the game was "probably the biggest factor" in his decision to return.
"I mean, it's a pretty cool way to go out, but I just think I would still have this love for the game," Kelce said. "I think I would have thought about it more if we would've won."
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"The ending of that game, I feel like I owe the guys that I come into that building with a whole lot more effort and focus," Kelce said. "I just don't know what it was during that game, man, but I wasn't at my best. The more that I see clips or watch the film and put myself back into those moments, man, I'm just like what the f***?"
While Kelce committed to 2025, he could not say whether it will be his final season.
"I can't say whether or not this is going to be the last year because I still love a lot of what I do for the city of Kansas City and the Chiefs organization," Kelce said. "I know I've got one on my contract, and I'm gonna give you everything I got, baby."
