Travis Kelce is entering his 12th season in the NFL and will turn 34 in October this year.
Even so, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end never ceases to impress on the field.
He’s signed a two-year contract extension worth US$34.25 million, with US$17 million guaranteed for next season and the rest for Day 3 of the 2025 season.
Despite his declining age, the desire to win the three-peat was certainly a reason for the player to renew with the team.
Kelce almost reached the triple digits in yards in 2023
In a season of ups and downs for KC, Travis Kelce came within 16 yards of reaching 1,000, something that hadn’t happened since 2015.
He has felt the weight of age and his performance has not kept pace with the fame he began to receive after dating Taylor Swift.
However, the KC star doesn’t seem to have understood this as a flaw or a cause for concern for the 2024 season. He spoke about not reaching 1000 yards on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, that would have been cool. But at the same time I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of stats and it’s just at this point in my career, it’s just not what I’m here for.”
Kelce reflected on the possibility that if he had played against the Los Angeles Charges he could have beaten the mark and even passed it.
“I could have went out there in that Chargers game and I would have loved to play with Blaine. I hadn’t played with Blane yet in the game and I loved playing with like Chad Henny, Nick Foles when he was with us for a little bit behind Alex Smith.”
The TE explained why he missed the game and that it was due to ‘force majeure’: “I hadn’t ____ing played a game with him, but I was like, ‘Man, I could really use not to go out here on this ____ng turf, bang on my knees and just give myself like a full week of just getting the body back together’. That’s way more important to me,”.
“That’s way more important to me than these 1516 yards that I should have got 16 games where there’s so many drops and s___ like that. I was almost like kicking myself that I was even in the situation. It’s not worth it to me at this point.”
How Travis understands the fact that he is no longer involved in 100 per cent of plays
Last season, No. 87 recorded 93 receptions, rushing for 984 yards and five touchdowns.
In the post-season, he added 32 receptions for 355 yards and four touchdowns, and was instrumental in Kansas City winning its second Super Bowl in a row, and third in five seasons.
Taylor Lewan, one of the hosts of the podcast, asked Kelce how he faces this struggle to understand that ‘he is no longer the threat he used to be’, since Travis understands that reaching 1,000 yards will not make much difference at this point in his career.
“Having to deal with not always being in the game, in certain moments of the game. Like, I had to look myself in the mirror like, ‘Dude, the team’s better when Noah and Blake Bell are in the game in these type of situations’. You have to be all right with that. You can’t just be like, ‘I need to be on the fucking field’,” Mrs. Swift said.
“So it’s like dealing with that knowing that I got to trust, you know, the head ball coach on what the team needs best, and I just want to go out there and be out there every single f___ing play and helping the team. Dealing with that has probably been the biggest struggle.”
Brett Veach, already thinking about the franchise’s future, drafted Jared Wiley, the tight end who should replace Kelce in a few years’ time.
Kelce has been recognising and processing his decline for some time now
Travis isn’t going to get any younger and he’s very aware of that.
Even if it doesn’t seem like it to outsiders, he’s already digesting the idea that things are going to get more and more complicated from now on.
“I think it’s been over the past like two or three years understanding that,” noted. “On top of that, you throw in the fact that we weren’t just having like bookoo success during the season. So it was like not having the success that we thought we should be having… just not being as successful or as smooth and routes and things like that and being reliable or for a 15 back there.”
He then concluded with a voice less excited than usual: “It was a learning process, man.”