Travis Kelce isn’t thinking about retiring from the NFL anytime soon, even as his star power off the field grows stronger.
“I have no reason to stop playing football,” Kelce, 34, told reporters at a press conference Thursday ahead of the NFL Playoffs, when asked if he has any plans to end his career. Kelce has been the talk of the NFL all year, and not just for his play on the field. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end’s relationship with Taylor Swift has made headlines nearly every day since the pair began flirting with romance late last summer.
Meanwhile, Kelce’s star status has skyrocketed on its own. The NFL star hosted Saturday Night Live last March, appeared on the cover of the Wall Street Journal magazine in November and has become a year-round familiar face on television commercials. “I’ve been fortunate to do a few things outside of the sports world that I’ve been enjoying doing, like getting on camera,” Kelce said Thursday. “The SNL stuff kind of opened up a new happiness and a new career path for me, but it’s funny for me to even say that at this point in my career because I think it’s so much further down the road than it is right now.”
Needless to say, Kelce believes there’s a lot left in the tank when it comes to his professional football career and how much he enjoys playing the game. “I love it,” Kelce said Thursday. “We still have success.” On the field, Kelce remains one of the top players in the league. His 984 receiving yards lead the Chiefs offense, adding five touchdowns for the team in 15 games. Kelce also helped lead the Chiefs to their eighth-straight AFC West Championship and ninth-straight playoff appearance with an 11-6 overall record.
Kelce’s mother, who was included on PEOPLE’s 25 Most Intriguing People of the Year list, told the WSJ magazine in its cover story about her son that he’s “happier than I’ve seen him in a long time” this season — in large part due to his relationship with Swift, 34. “It feels like I was on top of the world after the Super Bowl and right now I’m even more on top of the world,” Kelce told reporters in October, shortly after the “Love Story” singer began showing up at his games and sitting alongside his mother Donna.
Swift is likely to be in attendance this weekend when Kelce and the Chiefs host the Miami Dolphins in the opening round of the playoffs on Saturday night. The Chiefs are hoping to defend their 2023 Super Bowl victory and get to the championship game for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The road to the Super Bowl is tough, however, as the Chiefs begin the playoffs against an offensively talented Dolphins squad before potentially facing a pair of pre-season Super Bowl favorites in the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens in the next two rounds. Despite a difficult path, The Kansas City Star estimates the Chiefs have a 70 percent chance of reaching the Super Bowl.
