Travis Kelce decided not to retire following the Chiefs’ devastating loss to the Eagles in the Super Bowl, and the tight end is now preparing for his 13th NFL season with a special sort of intensity.
Kelce, 35, weighed up walking away from football in February, but ultimately decided to return to Kansas City after the team’s three-peat hopes were quashed.
And according to Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who spoke with reporters on Monday from the NFL owners’ meetings, Kelce is ‘training like crazy’ after a disappointing finish to the season.
‘I just wanted him to put it out there and not me,’ Reid added of Kelce’s announcement that he was returning, via The Athletic.
‘I always like guys to step back [after the season], but he wants to come back and he’s training like crazy, too.’
While Kelce confirmed he was returning on February 27 with a text to Pat McAfee – 18 days after Super Bowl LIX – Reid said to reporters that Kelce informed him he was returning less than a week after the 40-22 loss to Philadelphia.
Andy Reid told reporters on Monday that Travis Kelce was ‘training like crazy’ this offseason
Kelce weighed up retirement following the Chiefs’ loss in the Super Bowl but decided to return
The future Hall of Famer struggled by his lofty standards during the 2024 season, posting his fewest receiving yards (823) and touchdowns (three) since his sophomore season in 2014.
Reid noted to reporters in Palm Beach, Florida that the tight end’s playing time could be reduced in 2025 to keep him fresher.
He also suggested that the injuries to Kansas City’s receiving core may have made life harder for Kelce.
Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown missed most of the regular season after suffering a shoulder injury in the preseason, while Rashee Rice suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 4.
‘I didn’t think that was an issue this year, but I thought we were banged up at the outside positions and that doesn’t help a tight end’s cause at all,’ Reid said.
‘I just think the healthier we can be around him – he can still be productive.’
Kelce was quiet in the Chiefs’ blowout loss to the Eagles in New Orleans, tallying just 39 yards on four receptions.
Kelce has spent his entire career with Reid and the pair have won three Super Bowls together
Nonetheless, as he later explained on his New Heights podcast with his brother Jason, he feels he has more to contribute.
‘I think the biggest thing is that I f*****g love playing the game of football,’ he 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.’