Will Thursday be Travis Kelce’s final game in Kansas City?
Well, even he doesn’t seem to know.
Kelce, 36, sat down with Amazon’s Prime Video before the Chiefs’ 20-13 Christmas Day loss to the Broncos as he faces rumors and buzz that this season — his 13th in the NFL — will be his last.
The star Chiefs star tight end, who was named to his 11th Pro Bowl this year, is in the middle of what he called a disappointing year for the team, which will not make the postseason for the first time since 2014, Kelce’s second year in the league.
Not only will they not get to defend their AFC title, but the Chiefs will play out the string without Patrick Mahomes, who sustained season-ending ACL and LCL injuries two weeks ago.
In the pre-recorded segment with Tony Gonzalez, a Chiefs tight end legend in his own right, Kelce was asked directly about where he stands on his own football future and if Thursday’s game will be his last at Arrowhead Stadium.
“I think I’m still searching for those answers,” Kelce said when pressed on his looming decision. “Obviously, the way this one ended with a sour taste in my mouth. I feel motivated but I’ve got to make the right decision for me. I gotta hope that if I do wanna come back that the Chiefs are willing to bring me back. It’s a two-way street on that.”
Kelce added that he has his brother, former Eagles center Jason Kelce, in his back pocket for discussions about how he should handle his future.
The three-time Super Bowl champion said, when asked a follow-up about what would make him want to continue in football, that he still has plenty of room in his heart for the game and that he’d play until he was 50 years old if he could.
“I know when it’s over, it’s over,” continued Kelce. “I feel like I still have a lot of love for this game, I feel like if I came back it’d just be to answer that flame in my heart that I still love this thing.”
Kelce, with fiancée Taylor Swift in attendance, snagged a team-high five catches catches for 36 yards in against the Broncos with quarterback Chris Oladokun making his first NFL start.
Despite the loss, Kelce seemed to leave the field with a smile as he soaked in the Arrowhead atmosphere. He emphasized that he still hasn’t come to a decision on his future, but did say he wanted to revel in that moment after the game.
“You only get a few of those where you just get to stand there and appreciate 60-70,000 Chiefs fans screaming for you,” Kelce told reporters. “I always embrace that moment, man. It’s fun. Hopefully I got everybody fired up for it.”
